Mike Organ

morgan@tennessean.com

It seems fitting that Tennessee and Nebraska, two teams that experienced similar highs and lows, would end up in the same place.

The Vols (8-4, 4-4 SEC) and Cornhuskers (9-3, 6-3 Big Ten) were top-10 teams at some point this season. But they will try to finish on an uptick in the 19th annual Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl at 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 30 at Nissan Stadium (ESPN).

It will be the first time for the programs to meet since the 2000 Fiesta Bowl, which Nebraska won 31-21. The Cornhuskers also won 42-17 in the 1998 Orange Bowl.

Those are the only times the two teams have met.

Tennessee last played in the Music City Bowl in 2010. The Vols lost to North Carolina 30-27 in double overtime.

"Our entire program is excited about representing the University of Tennessee at the Music City Bowl," said Vols coach Butch Jones. "This will be a great opportunity for our players to play in an NFL stadium against a very challenging opponent in Nebraska. We have a special group of seniors that have given their all for this program, and I know they are excited about a final opportunity to play together."

It will be Nebraska's first appearance in the Music City Bowl.

Both teams brought lofty expectations into the season, played well early and then stumbled down the stretch..

The Vols got off to a 5-0 start and climbed to No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25. Nebraska started 7-0 and moved all the way up to No. 7.

Tennessee lost four of its last last seven, including a 45-34 defeat at Vanderbilt on Nov. 26 that took the Vols out of contention for a potential Sugar Bowl bid.

Nebraska lost three of its last five and also ended the regular season on a sour note after being trounced by Iowa 40-10.

Still, Music City Bowl CEO and president Scott Ramsey believes there is enough excitement in both camps to make for an attractive matchup.

"They are two teams that allow us to do the three or four things we try to do every year and that is to put together a matchup that excites fans to come to Nashville and from a tourism standpoint spend some days here and help us fill up the stadium," Ramsey said. "For local fans it allows us to have a matchup that is intriguing, which doesn't happen all the time. The third is to come up with a matchup that delivers great viewership and ratings on television, which we really think these two brands will."

A capacity crowd of 69,143, the largest in bowl history, showed up when the Vols played in 2010.

Tennessee finished No. 21 in the College Football Playoff final rankings.

"I am excited. It's just another opportunity to the play the game I love," Tennessee senior quarterback Joshua Dobbs said on WNML's The Nation. "Obviously, we have a great opponent as well in Nebraska and we have to get ready for it. We just have to go out and make the most of it and finish out the year strong."

Tennessee and Nebraska were scheduled to begin a home-and-home series this past season, but that got moved back to 2026 and 2027 so the Vols could play Virginia Tech in the Battle at Bristol.

Considering the drop-off in the latter part of year, Nebraska coach Mike Riley said his team, which improved on last year's 5-7 record, was happy to be coming to Nashville.

RELATED

“This is a great opportunity to finish our year in an outstanding bowl game and compete for a 10th win against an excellent Tennessee team," Riley said. "As a staff, we are looking forward to spending the additional practice time with this team and preparing for a strong performance. I know our players, coaches and fans will enjoy the trip to Nashville, and we anticipate a great week of activities and an excellent football game.”

Nebraska was not included in the final CFP rankings, but the Cornhuskers are No. 24 in the AP Poll and No. 21 in the USA Today coaches’ poll.

Rhiannon Potkey contibuted to this report.Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 and on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.



