What is the Music City Bowl in college football? Date, venue, history and more explored

The Music City Bowl is near, with the game set to be played in a month. The Nashville, Tenn., event has garnered national attention in recent years, having had its inception at the end of the 20th century in 1998.

The bowl has tie-ins with the Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference, probably the two most popular conferences in college football. It was associated with the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big East in the past.

The experts predict that the invitees will be the Big Ten's Wisconsin Badgers and the SEC's Texas A&M Aggies this year. The Aggies are amid a somewhat disappointing 7-5 season, finishing 4-4 in the SEC and in fourth place in the West. They famously fired coach Jimbo Fisher despite paying him a $77 million buyout clause, to hire Duke's Mike Elko.

The Badgers are 7-5, too, with a slightly better conference record of 5-4. It was a middle-of-the-road season for Wisconsin that saw it go third in the Big Ten West.

What is the Music City Bowl in college football?

The Music City Bowl is an NCAA-sanctioned postseason game that has been held since 1998 in Nashville, Tennessee. Initially, the game was held at Vanderbilt Stadium but changed to Nissan Stadium in 1999. Through the 2020 to 2025 period, the game has tie-ins to the SEC and the Big Ten.

The title sponsor of the bowl is TransPerfect, a translation services company. Thus, the game is formally known as the TransPerfect Music City Bowl. Previous sponsors were American General Life & Accident, HomePoint.com and Gaylord Entertainment.

Who usually plays in the Music City Bowl?

Kentucky is by far the school that has participated the most times in this bowl game, with six appearances. Minnesota and Tennessee are tied for the second most, with three appearances each.

However, the lead in the number of wins rests with the Auburn Tigers, Vanderbilt Commodores and Louisville Cardinals.

While the Wildcats and the Golden Gophers have also had two victories, the Tigers, Commodores and Cardinals all have a perfect record of 2-0. Meanwhile, Kentucky has a 2-4 record and Minnesota is 2-1.

When is the Music City Bowl?

The game will be held on Saturday, Dec. 30, at 2 p.m. ET at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.