The 2001 Gator Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Clemson Tigers at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida on January 1, 2001. The game was the final contest of the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season for both teams, and ended in a 41–20 victory for Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech entered the game headed by star quarterback Michael Vick, who led the Hokies to a 10–1 regular season record despite being injured for a part of the season. Clemson entered the game with a regular-season record of 9–2 under the command of head coach Tommy Bowden, who was in the second year of his tenure. The contest featured two high-scoring offenses that emphasized different aspects of the game. These aspects were exemplified in the game, which saw Clemson pass for more yards than Virginia Tech, while the Hokies ran for more yards than the Tigers.

Virginia Tech jumped out to an early lead and maintained it throughout the game. Vick had a 23-yard touchdown run on the game's opening drive, then helped the Hokies expand their lead to 14–0 by the end of the first quarter. The Tigers narrowed Tech's lead to 14–10 in the second quarter, but the Hokies scored another touchdown before halftime and went into the second half with a 21–10 lead. Injuries knocked Clemson's two leading running backs out of the game, and starting Clemson quarterback Woodrow Dantzler was removed from the game after he proved ineffective against the Virginia Tech defense. Despite these changes, the Tigers were unable to reduce Virginia Tech's lead, which stood at 34–13 at the end of the third quarter. A late Clemson touchdown moved the Tigers within two touchdowns, but Virginia Tech answered with a touchdown of its own, making the final score 41–20.

In recognition of his performance in leading his team to a victory, Vick was named the game's most valuable player. It was his final collegiate game, and four months after the Gator Bowl, he was selected with the first overall selection in the 2001 NFL Draft. A handful of other players who participated in the Gator Bowl also were selected in the draft.

• We need a playoff. — Bernie Machen, president of the University of Florida who supported creating a play-off for NCAA Division I-A
• I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault. — former Ohio State Buckeyes defensive back Jack Tatum, on the fierce quality of his play
• If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win football games for you. — University of Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, on his motivational techniques
• When people used to see Wake Forest on the schedule, they used a pen to mark down a `W.' We're at the point now where we at least make them use a pencil. — Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe

• ... that the Harvard Crimson football team (home stadium pictured) has won 12 national championships and is the eighth winningest team in NCAA Division I football history?
• ... that American football running back Keith Elias graduated from Princeton University with 21 Princeton Tigers records and 4 National Collegiate Athletic Association I-AA records?
• ... that Vanderbilt's "Blonde Bear" supervised the ransacking of black households in the 1946 Columbia Race Riot?
• ... that Native American football player Peter Hauser has been credited with throwing the first spiral pass?

• ... that the Yale Bulldogs football team (mascot pictured) has won 27 national championships and ranks second in wins in college football history?
• ... that Michigan's All-American 60-minute man Tom Johnson was the second African-American player for the Green Bay Packers?
• ... that Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough played for Hall of Fame football coach John Gagliardi at Saint John's University?
• ... that the Wittenberg Tigers from Springfield, Ohio, have won more games than any other Division III college football team?