Ad Disclosure
Last minute jockeying changes bowl destinations for Tennessee, Mississippi State, and UK
Published:
The craziness of college football does not simply end with the conclusion of the regular season.
There doesn’t even need to be any games played for chaos. As reports flew out about each SEC teams’ bowl destination, it appeared as though Tennessee was set in stone to play Louisville in the Music City Bowl.
Kentucky and Mississippi State, meanwhile, seemed to be destined for either the Belk or Gator Bowl.
Things changed from the initial reports.
Now it’s official…NASH vs. Mississippi State!
: https://t.co/mHI98L3hqm#GoCards pic.twitter.com/eJr2Bsrj0B
— Louisville Football (@UofLFootball) December 8, 2019
Before the official announcement, Louisville’s official Twitter account made it known that it will be the Bulldogs, not the Vols playing, in Nashville for the Music City Bowl.
It seemed as though Tennessee and Kentucky were jockeying for the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville.
At this moment, source tells me Kentucky believes it has been switched to Belk Bowl
Tennessee and Kentucky fighting for Gator
But SEC hasn’t told anyone officially
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) December 8, 2019
Finally, we got the final word, that Tennessee is indeed headed to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville to play Indiana.
Reports had floated in the days prior that the Music City Bowl wanted Tennessee, but the Vols allegedly had a late change of heart, according to Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio.
Bottom line:
SEC had agreement where Tennessee was in Music City and Kentucky I’m Gator
Tennessee changed its mind this afternoon and made Gator the preference . Because they had same record and Beat UK head to head, deference was given to them by SEC
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) December 8, 2019
Like Jones said, the Vols’ 5-3 SEC record and head-to-head win over the Wildcats gives them preference. Tennessee will be headed to Jacksonville to play Big Ten opponent Indiana in the Gator Bowl. The Hoosiers are 8-4 this season.
It’s Official! @Vol_Football vs. @IndianaFootball playing in the 75th TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on January 2nd! pic.twitter.com/E5HQxAzSfI
— TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (@taxslayerbowl) December 8, 2019
As for Kentucky, the Wildcats will be in Charlotte for the Belk Bowl, to face an 8-4 Virginia Tech team that fell one game short of winning the Coastal division.
Our search is complete…@HokiesFB vs. @UKFootballhttps://t.co/7QOEVdYlKv pic.twitter.com/wCCwQNUcOE
— Belk Bowl (@belkbowl) December 8, 2019
Never change, college football.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Lucas is a digital reporter for 104.5 The Zone in Nashville, and a high school play-by-play broadcaster. Lucas has been covering SEC football for Saturday Down South since 2018.
