Music City: the upset bowl
The inaugural Music City Bowl - played in Nashville's Vanderbilt Stadium in 1998 - was a lopsided 38-7 victory by Virginia Tech over Alabama.
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That 31-point differential - 15 games later - is by far the greatest margin in a bowl that has consistently proven to be a) nip-and-tuck, b) predominately low-scoring, and c) often times won by the underdog.
It was in 1999 when the string of upsets began as the game moved to the Tennessee Titans' new stadium - Adelphia Coliseum, which later became The Coliseum, and finally LP Field, its current name.
Three-point underdog Syracuse defeated Kentucky, 20-13, in 1999. It was the first of eight upsets over a 10-year span. Most of those upset victims were some of the pillars of college football, including Georgia (2001), Arkansas (2002), Wisconsin (2003), Alabama (2004), and Clemson (2006).
Ironically, one of the two games that wasn't an upset during that decade was Kentucky's 35-28 victory over a 7-6 Florida State team in 2007. The Wildcats were seven-point favorites over the Seminoles.
The Music City Bowl has proven to be the bowl of the little guy. The three programs with the most victories in post-season play in Nashville are Kentucky (back-to-back wins in 2006-07), Minnesota (2002, 2004) and Vanderbilt (2008, 2012). The Wildcats have made the most Music City Bowl appearances (four).
Only one program has lost the Music City Bowl twice, and it's the last one you would expect - Alabama. After the thumping the Crimson Tide took in 1998 from Virginia Tech, Alabama didn't return for another six years. But whether it was Mike DuBose coaching the Tide in '98 or Mike Shula in 2004, Alabama couldn't win in Nashville. Minnesota defeated a 6-6 Alabama team, 20-16, as a one-point underdog to the Crimson Tide.
The largest upsets have been Kentucky's 28-20 win over 10-point favorite Clemson in 2006 and Minnesota's 29-14 victory over seven-point favorite Arkansas in 2002.
Five straight favorites have won the Music City Bowl: Clemson (-6) over Kentucky (21-13) in 2009, North Carolina (-1) over Tennessee (30-27 2 OTs) in 2010, Mississippi State (-6 ½) over Wake Forest (23-17) in 2011, Vanderbilt (-7 ½) over North Carolina State (38-24) in 2012, and Mississippi (-3) over Georgia Tech (25-17) in 2013.
The vast majority of the 16 Music City Bowls - sponsored mainly by Gaylord Hotels and now sponsored by Franklin American Mortgage - have been close and lower scoring.
Eleven of the 16 have been decided by single digits, including eight in a row and nine out of 10 from 2004-13. From 2004-11, the winning margins were four, three, eight, seven, two, eight, three and six.
Eight of the 16 games have offered a combined 43 points or less. The lowest scoring Music City Bowl was Vanderbilt's 16-14 victory over Boston College in 2008. The highest scoring game was in year three when three-point underdog West Virginia knocked off Mississippi, 49-38.
The LP Field setting, however, is most notably remembered for the 2000 Music City Miracle - Kevin Dyson's 75-yard run on a kick off gadget play in the waning seconds of an NFL wildcard game between the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills after the Bills had taken a 16-15 lead with 16 seconds remaining.
Some would say Notre Dame needs a bit of a miracle to defeat LSU on Dec. 30.
Maybe all the Irish need is for the 17th annual Music City Bowl to simply remain true to form as the bowl of upsets.