1981 Orange Bowl
| 1981 Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 47th Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
The Miami Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, hosted the Orange Bowl. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1980 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Orange Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Miami, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | J. C. Watts (Oklahoma QB) Jarvis Coursey (FSU DE) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Oklahoma by 5½ points | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Gene Calhoun (Big Ten) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 71,043 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Don Criqui and John Brodie | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 24.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
The 1981 Orange Bowl was the 47th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Thursday, January 1. Part of the 1980–81 bowl game season, it matched the fourth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners of the Big Eight Conference and the independent #2 Florida State Seminoles.
Favored Oklahoma rallied to win by a point, 18–17.