Music City Bowl

Last updated
Music City Bowl
TransPerfect Music City Bowl
Music City Bowl logo.png
Stadium Nissan Stadium
Location Nashville, Tennessee
Previous stadiums Vanderbilt Stadium (1998)
Operated1998–present
Conference tie-ins Big Ten, SEC
Previous conference tie-ins ACC (2006–2019)
Big East (1998–2001)
Big Ten (2002–2005)
Payout US$5.7 million (2019) [1]
Website musiccitybowl.com
Sponsors
Former names
  • Music City Bowl (1998, 2000–2001)
  • HomePoint.com Music City Bowl (1999)
  • Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl (2002–2009)
      presented by Bridgestone (2003–2007)
  • Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl (2010–2019)
2023 matchup
Auburn vs. Maryland (Maryland 31–13)
2024 matchup
Iowa vs Missouri (Missouri 27–24)

The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by TransPerfect and is officially known as the TransPerfect Music City Bowl. Previous title sponsors include American General Life & Accident (1998), HomePoint.com (1999), Gaylord Entertainment (2002–2003), both Gaylord Entertainment and Bridgestone (2004–2009), and Franklin American Mortgage Company (2010–2019). From 2014 through 2019, the bowl had tie-ins with the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten Conference, and Southeastern Conference (SEC); for 2020 through 2025, the bowl has tie-ins with the Big Ten and SEC.

Contents

The 2020 edition, slated for December 30 between Missouri and Iowa, was cancelled on December 27 due to COVID-19 issues within Missouri's program. [2]

History

The first Music City Bowl was played at Vanderbilt Stadium in 1998. Beginning in 1999, the game was moved to the recently completed Adelphia Coliseum (now known as Nissan Stadium) in Nashville, Tennessee, the home stadium of the newly-renamed Tennessee Titans. American General Life & Accident (now a subsidiary of AIG) sponsored the inaugural 1998 game, and the now-defunct "homepoint.com" sponsored the 1999 game. There was no sponsor in 2000 or 2001. In 2002, with title sponsorship from Nashville-based Gaylord Hotels, the game became known as the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl. In 2003, Bridgestone became the presenting sponsor of the game, and its full title became the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl presented by Bridgestone. Bridgestone dropped its presenting sponsorship following the 2007 game. Beginning with the 2010 game, Franklin American Mortgage served as title sponsor, with Gaylord continuing as a major sponsor of the event. [3] In December 2019, it was announced that TransPerfect, a New York City-based translation services company, would take over title sponsorship of the bowl for the 2020 through 2025 playings. [4]

Conference tie-ins

The game initially featured a matchup between representatives of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Big East Conference. The Big East was replaced by the Big Ten Conference in 2002. Beginning with the 2006 game, the Big Ten was replaced by the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The ACC also took part in the 2005 game, when Virginia appeared because the SEC did not have enough bowl-eligible teams. For six seasons beginning in 2014, the Music City Bowl shared its tie in with the Gator Bowl (also known as the TaxSlayer Bowl for several playings), to match an SEC team with either an ACC or Big Ten team. [5] In June 2019, the Music City Bowl announced an extension to their agreement with the SEC, and an agreement for the Big Ten to provide teams for the 2020 through 2025 seasons. [6]

Game results

The 2009 Music City Bowl 2009 Music City Bowl Nashville TN USA.JPG
The 2009 Music City Bowl

The Music City Bowl has a history of upsets. The biggest underdog win was when Kentucky (+10) defeated Clemson 28–20 in 2006. Other big upsets include Minnesota (+7) defeating Arkansas 29–14 in 2002, and Virginia (+6) defeating Minnesota 34–31 in 2005. Boston College was a four-point underdog when they defeated Georgia 20–16 in 2001, West Virginia was a three-point underdog when they beat Ole Miss in 2000, Syracuse was a three-point underdog when they defeated Kentucky in 1999, and Minnesota was a one-point underdog when they beat Alabama in 2004. In 2008, four-point underdog Vanderbilt, making their first bowl appearance since 1982, upset Boston College, 24th in the BCS rankings, 16–14.

All rankings are taken from the AP Poll prior to the game being played.

Date PlayedWinning TeamLosing TeamAttendance [7] Notes
December 29, 1998 Virginia Tech 38 Alabama 741,248 [a] notes
December 29, 1999 Syracuse 20 Kentucky 1359,221 notes
December 28, 2000 West Virginia 49 Ole Miss 3847,119 notes
December 28, 2001 Boston College 20No. 16 Georgia 1646,125 notes
December 30, 2002 Minnesota 29No. 25 Arkansas 1439,183 notes
December 31, 2003 Auburn 28 Wisconsin 1455,109 notes
December 31, 2004 Minnesota 20 Alabama 1666,089 notes
December 30, 2005 Virginia 34 Minnesota 3140,519 notes
December 29, 2006 Kentucky 28 Clemson 2068,024 notes
December 31, 2007 Kentucky 35 Florida State 2868,661 notes
December 31, 2008 Vanderbilt 16 Boston College 1454,250 notes
December 27, 2009 Clemson 21 Kentucky 1357,280 notes
December 30, 2010 North Carolina 30 Tennessee 27 (2OT)69,143 notes
December 30, 2011 Mississippi State 23 Wake Forest 1755,208 notes
December 31, 2012 Vanderbilt 38 NC State 2455,801 notes
December 30, 2013 Ole Miss 25 Georgia Tech 1752,125 notes
December 30, 2014 Notre Dame 31No. 22 LSU 2860,419 notes
December 30, 2015 Louisville 27 Texas A&M 2150,478 notes
December 30, 2016 Tennessee 38 No. 24 Nebraska 2468,496 notes
December 29, 2017No. 20 Northwestern 24 Kentucky 2348,675 notes
December 28, 2018 Auburn 63 Purdue 1459,024 notes
December 30, 2019 Louisville 38 Mississippi State 2846,850 notes
December 30, 2020Canceled due to COVID-19 issues [b] — [8]
December 30, 2021 Purdue 48 Tennessee 45 (OT)69,489 notes
December 31, 2022 Iowa 21 Kentucky 042,312 notes
December 30, 2023 Maryland 31 Auburn 1350,088 notes
December 30, 2024No. 23 Missouri 27 Iowa 2443,375 notes

Source: [9]

Most Valuable Players

2009 MVP C. J. Spiller C.J. Spiller 2015.jpg
2009 MVP C. J. Spiller
Date playedMVPTeamPosition
December 29, 1998 Corey Moore Virginia TechDE
December 29, 1999 James Mungro SyracuseRB
December 29, 2000Brad LewisWest VirginiaQB
December 28, 2001 William Green Boston CollegeRB
December 30, 2002Dan NystromMinnesotaK
December 31, 2003 Jason Campbell AuburnQB
December 31, 2004 Marion Barber MinnesotaRB
December 30, 2005 Marques Hagans VirginiaQB
December 29, 2006 Andre' Woodson KentuckyQB
December 31, 2007 Andre' Woodson KentuckyQB
December 31, 2008Brett UpsonVanderbiltP
December 27, 2009 C. J. Spiller ClemsonRB
December 30, 2010 Shaun Draughn North CarolinaRB
December 30, 2011 Vick Ballard Mississippi StateRB
December 31, 2012 Zac Stacy VanderbiltRB
December 30, 2013 Bo Wallace Ole MissQB
December 30, 2014 Malik Zaire Notre DameQB
December 30, 2015 Lamar Jackson LouisvilleQB
December 30, 2016 Joshua Dobbs TennesseeQB
December 29, 2017 Justin Jackson NorthwesternRB
December 28, 2018 Jarrett Stidham AuburnQB
December 30, 2019 Malik Cunningham LouisvilleQB
December 30, 2021Broc ThompsonPurdueWR
December 31, 2022 Cooper DeJean IowaDB
December 30, 2023 Billy Edwards Jr. [10] MarylandQB
December 30, 2024 Brady Cook MissouriQB

Most appearances

Updated through the December 2024 edition (26 games, 52 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances
RankTeamAppearancesRecord
1 Kentucky 62–4
2 Auburn 32–1
Minnesota 32–1
Tennessee 31–2
5 Louisville 22–0
Vanderbilt 22–0
Boston College 21–1
Clemson 21–1
Iowa 21–1
Mississippi State 21–1
Ole Miss 21–1
Purdue 21–1
Alabama 20–2
Teams with a single appearance

Won (9): Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia
Lost (10): Arkansas, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, LSU, NC State, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Wake Forest, Wisconsin

Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2024 edition (26 games, 52 total appearances).

ConferenceRecordAppearances by season
GamesWLWin pct.WonLost
SEC 251015.4002003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2018, 20241998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
Big Ten 1165.5452002, 2004, 2017, 2021, 2022, 20232003, 2005, 2016, 2018, 2024
ACC 1156.4552005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 20192006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013
Big East 4401.0001998, 1999, 2000, 2001 
Independents 1101.0002014 

Game records

The most lopsided game was Auburn's 63–14 win over Purdue in the 2018 edition. Auburn's 63 points (56 in the first half alone, a record for a half in any bowl game) is the bowl's high score, while Kentucky's 0 points in 2022 is the low score. The closest game was Northwestern's 24–23 win over Kentucky in 2017. The lowest point total in the bowl's history is 21, which occurred in 2022 when Iowa shut out Kentucky. The 87 point total in the 2000 edition, when West Virginia defeated Ole Miss, 49–38, is a high for the bowl. A new attendance record for the bowl of 69,489 was set by the 2021 game, surpassing the prior record of 69,143 that had been set by the 2010 game.

TeamRecord, Team vs. OpponentYear
Most points scored (one team)63, Auburn vs. Purdue2018
Most points scored (losing team)45, Tennessee vs. Purdue2021
Most points scored (both teams)93, Purdue (48) vs. Tennessee (45)2021
Fewest points allowed0, Iowa (21) v. Kentucky (0)2022
Largest margin of victory49, Auburn (63) vs. Purdue (14)2018
Total yards666, Tennessee vs. Purdue2021
Rushing yards333, Northwestern vs. Kentucky2017
Passing yards534, Purdue vs. Tennessee2021
First downs31, Tennessee vs. Purdue2021
Fewest yards185, Kentucky vs. Iowa2022
Fewest rushing yards21, Alabama vs. Minnesota2004
Fewest passing yards71, Virginia Tech vs. Alabama1998
IndividualRecord, Player, Team vs. OpponentYear
All-purpose yards284, Tobias Palmer (NC State)2012
Touchdowns (all-purpose)3, shared by:
Joshua Dobbs (Tennessee)
Darius Slayton (Auburn)
Cedric Tillman (Tennessee)
2016
2018
2021
Rushing yards226, Lamar Jackson (Louisville)2015
Rushing touchdowns3, Joshua Dobbs (Tennessee)2016
Passing yards534, Aidan O'Connell (Purdue)2021
Passing touchdowns5, shared by:
Brad Lewis (West Virginia)
Jarrett Stidham (Auburn)
Hendon Hooker (Tennessee)
Aidan O'Connell (Purdue)
2000
2018
2021
2021
Receptions11, shared by:
Josh Reynolds (Texas A&M)
Rondale Moore (Purdue)
2015
2018
Receiving yards217, Broc Thompson (Purdue)2021
Receiving touchdowns3, shared by:
Darius Slayton (Auburn)
Cedric Tillman (Tennessee)
2018
2021
Tackles20, Jeremy Banks (Tennessee)2021
Sacks3.0, Devonte Fields (Louisville)2015
Interceptions2, Michael Lehan (Minnesota)2002
Long PlaysRecord, Team vs. OpponentYear
Touchdown run89 yds., Leonard Fournette (LSU)2014
Touchdown pass75 yds., shared by:
Anthony Jennings to John Diarse (LSU)
Aidan O'Connell to Broc Thompson (Purdue)
2014
2021
Kickoff return100 yds., Leonard Fournette (LSU)2014
Punt return47 yds., Rafael Little (Kentucky)2006
Interception return65 yds., Trey Wilson (Vanderbilt)2012
Fumble return31 yds., Khane Pass (Louisville)2019
Punt68 yds., Tyler Campbell (Ole Miss)2013
Field goal49 yds., Jack Howes (Maryland)2023
MiscellaneousRecord, Team vs. OpponentYear
Bowl Attendance69,489, Purdue vs. Tennessee2021

Media coverage

The bowl has been televised by ESPN since its inception.

Notes

  1. ↑ The 1998 contest was played at Vanderbilt Stadium while Nissan Stadium (then Adelphia Coliseum) was under construction.
  2. ↑ The 2020 contest of Iowa vs. Missouri was canceled three days prior to the game due to COVID-19 issues.

References

  1. ↑ "2019 Bowl Schedule". collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  2. ↑ Cobb, David (December 27, 2020). "2020 Music City Bowl canceled as COVID-19 outbreak forces Missouri to pull out of game vs. Iowa". CBS Sports . Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Franklin American Mortgage To Title Music City Bowl In 2010".
  4. ↑ Organ, Mike (December 18, 2019). "TransPerfect becomes title sponsor of the Music City Bowl". tennessean.com. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Selection Process". musiccitybowl.com. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl Announces New 2020-2025 Conference Agreements". musiccitybowl.com (Press release). June 4, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Bowl Recaps". musiccitybowl.com. 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  8. ↑ "2020 TransPerfect Music City Bowl Cancelled". Music City Bowl. 2020-12-27. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
  9. ↑ "Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl" (PDF). Bowl/All Star Game Records. NCAA. 2020. p. 13. Retrieved January 3, 2021– via NCAA.org.
  10. ↑ @MDSportsblog (December 30, 2023). "Billy Edwards Jr. is the MVP of the Music City Bowl" (Tweet). Retrieved December 30, 2023– via Twitter.
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