Kentucky will be bowling to a similar tune this holiday season.
Although the destination has been known for the last week, the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl officially announced Sunday that it was selecting Kentucky for the third time in the last four seasons. The Wildcats will meet Clemson from the Atlantic Coast Conference for a primetime showdown (8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN) on Dec. 27.
The fourth straight bowl selection marks a school record.
“The important thing is that we are in our fourth straight bowl,” head coach Rich Brooks said. “It’s a surrounding that we’re familiar with. The routine will be a little different since it’s over Christmas holiday, but we are familiar with where we’re going to practice, we’re familiar with the hotel, the meeting rooms, the whole deal, and now we just have to … see if we can keep our bowl string and our non-conference string alive.”
Any lingering effects from a devastating loss to Tennessee to end the regular season appear to have subsided after a week off from football.
“It definitely could have been a lot worse. Just ask a few of the teams that are going other places,” Brooks said. “They’re upset that they aren’t going where we are. We’re upset that we aren’t going where somebody else is going, so that’s all part of the equation.”
Kentucky players made it a season-long goal to move up the Southeastern Conference food chain and make it to a bigger bowl (preferably one out of Tennessee), but those hopes were dashed with the late-season loss to the Vols.
Still, the Music City matchup provides a chance to win a fourth straight bowl game, something no other team in school history has ever accomplished.
“At first we weren’t (really excited), but we’re starting to get more excited because you have to look over the Tennessee loss and keep going,” senior tailback Alfonso Smith said. “It takes time when you have a tough loss like that, but I think we can get back on track and get excited once the bowl gifts start coming in.”
Smith rattled off some of the bowl gifts he’s received during his four-year career at UK, but he said nothing is more special than collecting hardware and cementing a legacy and foundation for future UK teams to build upon.
“I’m just happy to add another ring,” Smith said while holding up his hand to show which finger the next bowl ring will go on. “I’ll be like (Michael) Jordan almost.”
The return trip to Nashville will offer multiple incentives for the Cats. With some of the surprising bowl selections and the logjam in the SEC East, the Kentucky players seemed to be pleased with the selection despite a repeat showdown with a school the Cats defeated in the 2006 Music City Bowl.
“The purpose of moving up in bowls is you play a better opponent,” Peters said. “This year I’m looking at the possible choices, Clemson especially, North Carolina, too, are great teams. … That’s what really makes the game. I think that the bowls in particular don’t have as big of an effect other than name recognition.”
Clemson is coming off a very strong regular season in which it went 8-5. The Tigers had a shot to earn an automatic bid to a Bowl Championship Series game on Saturday night, but fell to eventual ACC champion Georgia Tech.
“Wow, they have talent, much like the last time we played them,” Brooks said of facing Clemson.
The Tigers have been led by dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate C.J. Spiller. The senior running back has run for 1,145 yards and 11 touchdowns this year, and his seven kickoff returns for a touchdown is an NCAA record.
“He’s a real talent,” Brooks said. “He’s got speed, got decent size and he’s a great kickoff return guy.”
Kentucky will leave for Nashville after practice on Dec. 21 and convene for a meeting at 9 a.m. on Dec. 22, Brooks said. They’ll stay in Nashville through the Christmas holiday so they can get in their normal Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday practice routine.
Peters said it won’t be a huge deal for him to miss Christmas with his loved ones because his family is usually pretty spread out anyway, but Peters admitted that it could have an effect on some of the younger players.
“I’m sure for some of the guys it’ll be kind of a shock, especially some of the younger guys who have never been away for Christmas,” Peters said. “It’s just a holiday. We’ll celebrate it a little bit later. Hopefully we can be home on the 28th and we’ll have Christmas then.”
If they get homesick for the holidays, they’ll have Ol’ Saint Brooks to keep them company.
“I don’t know that they got a Santa costume that fits me or not,” Brooks said. “I know my players don’t think I’m Santa anyways, so that would probably be a bad idea.”
Playing in the Music City just a few days after Christmas will actually offer a unique opportunity for the Cats. Given that it’s a Sunday night, it’s the only bowl game on TV that day and that record-setting UK fans have traveled so well to Nashville, it will give UK a primetime chance to showcase its program.
“It’s a good time to be on TV,” Smith said. “It’s like Sunday Night Football.”
Sure, the Cats would have rather been a little farther south for the holidays, namely for a New Year’s Day bowl in Florida, but the disappointment of the late-season game to Tennessee has vanished. They believe there is still plenty to play for.
“No matter who our opponent will be, I’m sure they’ll be favored if history has any significance here,” Peters said. “I think that will give us something to be excited about, coming out and trying to prove ourselves. When you’re playing in these bowl games, I think that it’s also important to have a lot of pride in your conference, especially being in the SEC. We want to continue that dominance over other conferences. You don’t want to be the team to lose.”
