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NASHVILLE — Tennessee (7-5, 5-3 SEC) finished the 2019 regular season with five consecutive wins.
The five-game win-streak has provided momentum heading into the offseason under Jeremy Pruitt as he continues to rebuild the Vols’ program back to a championship contender.
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl President and CEO Scott Ramsey discussed how Tennessee playing in Nashville for the postseason is a good fit.
“Obviously we would be very excited to have them,” Ramsey told Vols Wire of Tennessee. “I think it would be a good fit.”
Ramsey mentioned that each year is different and having the Vols play at Nissan Stadium is a better fit this bowl season with Tennessee carrying momentum into 2020.
“I think every year is different,” Ramsey said. “In talking to the Tennessee folks and Phillip (Fulmer), sometimes when you are really close you want to make it the right year when you are there.
“I know some of our counterparts have similar situations, sometimes it seems like it’s the right year and sometimes it works best if you go in a different direction, but this one certainly feels that if we have the opportunity then it will be really successful. Tennessee specifically, they did not play at Vanderbilt this year and no bowl game last year, so we feel like with a Monday afternoon game and a chance to really reach out and maximize the opportunity to the fans to participate in the program and the players to play in front of a full stadium, we think we have the right opportunity.”
Ramsey said that he and counterparts representing other bowl games have to wait and see how championship games play out before Sunday’s final College Football Rankings.
“I say that with a little bit of a pumping the brakes because we have to see how the system plays out and some things we can’t control and how many teams the SEC ultimately gets in the New Year’s Six — which could dictate the available teams in our pool and shuffle all of the cards,” Ramsey said of Tennessee playing in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl. “We have been fortunate in Nashville, given the geographical proximity to most of the schools within at least a half-day drive, our flexibility with some teams are really good and we have seen some really great response.
“Our city is an exciting place for the players and fans. If we are fortunate enough to have Tennessee it will be a great, successful fit this year.”
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl selection process
- Agreement with the SEC to take on either the ACC or Big Ten (through a unique partnership with the TaxSlayer Bowl) each year.
- Equally positioned with five other Bowl games (Outback, TaxSlayer, Advocare Texas, Belk, and Autozone Liberty) immediately following the College Football Playoff and Capital One Bowl.
- The SEC office controls selection of SEC schools with input from both the Bowls and Universities within the above-mentioned six Bowl group.
- Over the course of six years, the SEC will play an ACC team three times and a Big Ten team three times.
- The Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl and TaxSlayer Bowl will jointly determine which Conference (ACC or Big 10) will play in each Bowl on “Selection Sunday.” The rotation is not pre-determined giving the Bowls maximum flexibility in creating the best match-ups for their respective SEC opponent.
Ramsey discussed which conference could matchup against an SEC team this season in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl.
“We probably will go ACC this year,” he said. “Louisville, most logically, would be one of our options, Virginia Tech could fit in there as well. We will see how things play out and leads into Sunday.”
If Tennessee is not the team representing the SEC in Nashville, Ramsey views Mississippi State or Kentucky as “successful” options, as well.
As championship games unfold leading up to the final College Football Playoff rankings, Ramsey detailed what he will be watching for.
“What we are really watching are how many (SEC teams) are in the New Year’s Six,” Ramsey said. “It’s a dominio effect. We are all trying to make matchups work.
“We work more through the conferences for a better sense of all the matchups and not just two. So it might be a three or four bowl trickle like Tampa, Charlotte, Houston. Who you have on the other side of the game factors. We all do talk and we all share preferences, and ultimately now it centers with the conferences.”
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl — December 30, 2019 — 3:00 p.m. CT