OMAHA, Neb. — The Gator Bowl made it official today, inviting Nebraska to play Clemson on Jan. 1.

The matchup in Jacksonville, Fla., had been a foregone conclusion for almost a week, but Big 12 policy prevented the Cornhuskers from accepting a bowl invitation until after the conference championship game.

Nebraska (8-4) will be making its first Gator Bowl appearance. Clemson (7-5) is in the Gator for a record ninth time, and first since 2001.

It will be the second matchup between Clemson and Nebraska. The Tigers beat the Cornhuskers 22-15 in the Orange Bowl to win the 1981 national championship.

Both teams will enter this game off wins in four of their last five games, including three straight victories to finish the regular season.

"The way they finished and the way we finished, that's probably why they wanted to put these two teams together," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said Sunday.

Swinney took over the team on an interim basis after Tommy Bowden resigned Oct. 13 and was made the head coach last Monday.

The Huskers played in an NCAA-record 35 straight bowls, 1969-2003, but did not qualify for a postseason game in 2004 and 2007 under former coach Bill Callahan.

"We wanted to make progress," first-year coach Bo Pelini said. "We feel we made some progress — not as far as we wanted to go, as far as the record is concerned, but it gives us an opportunity to get one more win."

The Gator payout is $2.5 million per school.