MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Georgia Bulldogs are looking for the salvation of a winning season, and Conference USA champ Central Florida want a big chunk of history when the teams meet in the Liberty Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

The Bulldogs (6-6) had to win their final regular season game over rival Georgia Tech to become bowl eligible. Central Florida (10-3) clinched its berth with the Knights’ second league title in four seasons, beating SMU 17-7 on Saturday. But the Knights have yet to win a bowl game heading into their fourth attempt.

Bowl officials announced the matchup Sunday afternoon. This will be Georgia’s third Liberty Bowl appearance and first since 1987 when John Kasay kicked a 39-yard field goal to beat Arkansas 20-17 on the final play of the game. The Bulldogs also played in this game in 1967.

It will be the 46th bowl for the Bulldogs, which ranks sixth most in the country. But the Bulldogs also have a chance to finish with a winning record after a 1-4 start.

“We definitely want to have a winning record, there’s no doubt about that,” Georgia Tech coach Mark Richt said on a conference call Sunday. “We also have a chance to practice a few more times. That’s important.”

The Bulldogs turned the season after receiver A.J. Green was suspended for the first four games for selling a bowl jersey to an agent.

“We averaged a lot more points with him than without him, that’s for sure. But everybody got better as went along. We also had a freshman quarterback playing with Aaron Murray. I know Central Florida has a freshman quarterback as well. Those freshman quarterbacks tend to get better as the season goes along,” Richt said.

“But A.J. definitely had a big part in that jump in point production when he got back in the fold.”

This will be UCF’s first Liberty Bowl berth since 2007 when the Knights lost 10-3 to Mississippi State. UCF is coached by George Leary, who beat Georgia three straight times while at Georgia Tech. That helped lead to the firing of Jim Donnan and Richt’s hiring.

“This is awful big for Central Florida,” Richt said. “They feel like they can take their team to a new level of excellence.

They can make an even greater statement by beating an SEC team. We know what we’re up against with George’s team and their motivation, too.”

O’Leary told Richt on the conference call that he’s always enjoyed Georgia football and knows what his Knights can expect. Richt beat O’Leary in his last season coaching at Georgia Tech.

“Mark has done a great job. They don’t know how good they have it right now with Mark Richt,” O’Leary said.

UCF also has a freshman quarterback in Jeff Godfrey, and O’Leary said they tried not to overfill his plate.

“We spoon fed him each and every week so he could handle the fieldsmanship and the huddle and make the right decisions when he’s behind center,” O’Leary said. “He’s a talented kid who can make some hay with his feet. He can get out of a lot of bad plays and make good plays out of them. But he’s a true freshman. He’s still making a lot of mistakes we’ve got to correct each week.”