Music City Bowl
The Music City Bowl is a college football post-season bowl game contested by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams, which has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998. Since 2025, it has been sponsored by Liberty Mutual and is officially known as the Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl. The bowl has had tie-ins with several different athletic conferences, most recently the Big Ten Conference and Southeastern Conference.
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 in Nashville, Tennessee, the home stadium of the newly-renamed Tennessee Titans. American General Life & Accident 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. 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.The 2020 edition, slated for December 30 between Missouri and [2020 2020 Iowa Hawkeyes football team|Iowa Hawkeyes football team|Iowa], was cancelled on December 27 due to COVID-19 issues within Missouri's program.
Conference tie-ins
The game initially featured a matchup between representatives of the Southeastern Conference 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. 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, to match an SEC team with either an ACC or Big Ten team. 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.Game results
The Music City Bowl has a history of upsets. The biggest underdog win was when [2006 2006 Kentucky Wildcats football team|Kentucky Wildcats football team|Kentucky] defeated Clemson 28–20 in 2006. Other big upsets include Minnesota defeating Arkansas 29–14 in 2002, and [2005 Virginia Cavaliers football|Virginia Cavaliers football team|Virginia] defeating Minnesota 34–31 in 2005. Boston College was a four-point underdog when they defeated Georgia 20–16 in 2001, [2000 2000 West Virginia Mountaineers football team|West Virginia Mountaineers football team|West Virginia] was a three-point underdog when they beat [2000 2000 Ole Miss Rebels football team|Ole Miss Rebels football team|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 [2004 2004 Alabama Crimson Tide football team|Alabama Crimson Tide football team|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.
Source:
Most Valuable Players
| Date played | MVP | Team | Position |
| December 29, 1998 | Corey Moore | Virginia Tech | DE |
| December 29, 1999 | James Mungro | Syracuse | RB |
| December 29, 2000 | Brad Lewis | West Virginia | QB |
| December 28, 2001 | William Green | Boston College | RB |
| December 30, 2002 | Dan Nystrom | Minnesota | K |
| December 31, 2003 | Jason Campbell | Auburn | QB |
| December 31, 2004 | Marion Barber | Minnesota | RB |
| December 30, 2005 | Marques Hagans | Virginia | QB |
| December 29, 2006 | Andre' Woodson | Kentucky | QB |
| December 31, 2007 | Andre' Woodson | Kentucky | QB |
| December 31, 2008 | Brett Upson | Vanderbilt | P |
| December 27, 2009 | C. J. Spiller | Clemson | RB |
| December 30, 2010 | Shaun Draughn | North Carolina | RB |
| December 30, 2011 | Vick Ballard | Mississippi State | RB |
| December 31, 2012 | Zac Stacy | Vanderbilt | RB |
| December 30, 2013 | Bo Wallace | Ole Miss | QB |
| December 30, 2014 | Malik Zaire | Notre Dame | QB |
| December 30, 2015 | Lamar Jackson | Louisville | QB |
| December 30, 2016 | Joshua Dobbs | Tennessee | QB |
| December 29, 2017 | Justin Jackson | Northwestern | RB |
| December 28, 2018 | Jarrett Stidham | Auburn | QB |
| December 30, 2019 | Malik Cunningham | Louisville | QB |
| December 30, 2021 | Broc Thompson | Purdue | WR |
| December 31, 2022 | Cooper DeJean | Iowa | DB |
| December 30, 2023 | Billy Edwards Jr. | Maryland | QB |
| December 30, 2024 | Brady Cook | Missouri | QB |
| December 30, 2025 | Luke Altmyer | Illinois | QB |
Most appearances
Updated through the December 2025 edition.;Teams with multiple appearances
;Teams with a single appearance
Won : Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia
Lost : Arkansas, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, LSU, NC State, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Wake Forest, Wisconsin
Appearances by conference
Updated through the December 2025 edition.- Independent appearances: Notre Dame
- The American Conference retains the conference charter of the Big East following the 2013 split of the original Big East along football lines.
Game records
The most lopsided game was Auburn's 63–14 win over Purdue in the 2018 edition. Auburn's 63 points 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.| Team | Record, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Most points scored | 63, Auburn vs. Purdue | 2018 |
| Most points scored | 45, Tennessee vs. Purdue | 2021 |
| Most points scored | 93, Purdue vs. Tennessee | 2021 |
| Fewest points allowed | 0, Iowa v. Kentucky | 2022 |
| Largest margin of victory | 49, Auburn vs. Purdue | 2018 |
| Total yards | 666, Tennessee vs. Purdue | 2021 |
| Rushing yards | 333, Northwestern vs. Kentucky | 2017 |
| Passing yards | 534, Purdue vs. Tennessee | 2021 |
| First downs | 31, Tennessee vs. Purdue | 2021 |
| Fewest yards | 185, Kentucky vs. Iowa | 2022 |
| Fewest rushing yards | 21, Alabama vs. Minnesota | 2004 |
| Fewest passing yards | 71, Virginia Tech vs. Alabama | 1998 |
| Individual | Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| All-purpose yards | 284, Tobias Palmer | 2012 |
| Touchdowns | 3, shared by: Joshua Dobbs Darius Slayton Cedric Tillman | 2016 2018 2021 |
| Rushing yards | 226, Lamar Jackson | 2015 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 3, Joshua Dobbs | 2016 |
| Passing yards | 534, Aidan O'Connell | 2021 |
| Passing touchdowns | 5, shared by: Brad Lewis Jarrett Stidham Hendon Hooker Aidan O'Connell | 2000 2018 2021 2021 |
| Receptions | 11, shared by: Josh Reynolds Rondale Moore | 2015 2018 |
| Receiving yards | 217, Broc Thompson | 2021 |
| Receiving touchdowns | 3, shared by: Darius Slayton Cedric Tillman | 2018 2021 |
| Tackles | 20, Jeremy Banks | 2021 |
| Sacks | 3.0, Devonte Fields | 2015 |
| Interceptions | 2, Michael Lehan | 2002 |
| Long Plays | Record, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Touchdown run | 89 yds., Leonard Fournette | 2014 |
| Touchdown pass | 75 yds., shared by: Anthony Jennings to John Diarse Aidan O'Connell to Broc Thompson | 2014 2021 |
| Kickoff return | 100 yds., Leonard Fournette | 2014 |
| Punt return | 47 yds., Rafael Little | 2006 |
| Interception return | 65 yds., Trey Wilson | 2012 |
| Fumble return | 31 yds., Khane Pass | 2019 |
| Punt | 68 yds., Tyler Campbell | 2013 |
| Field goal | 49 yds., Jack Howes | 2023 |
| Miscellaneous | Record, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Bowl Attendance | 69,489, Purdue vs. Tennessee | 2021 |