Music City Bowl The Music City Bowl is a post - season American college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played in Nashville , Tennessee , since 1998 . History . Site . The first Mike Feld Music City Bowl was played at Vanderbilt Stadium in 1998 . Beginning in 1999 , the game has been played at LP Field , home of the Tennessee Titans . NON - BCS Bowl . See Bowl Championship Series Sponsors . Beginning in 2002 , 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 . Both sponsors are based in Nashville . Previous sponsors of the bowl game included American General Life & Accident ( now a subsidiary of AIG ) in the inaugural 1998 game , and the now - defunct " homepoint . com " in the 1999 game . There was no sponsor in 2000 and 2001 . Bridgestone dropped its presenting sponsorship following the 2007 game . Beginning with the 2010 game , Franklin American Mortgage served as title sponsor , though Gaylord still served as a major sponsor of the event . The new name is the Franklin American Mortgage Company Music City Bowl . Conferences . 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 Conference 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 . Frequent upsets . The Music City Bowl has a history of upsets . The biggest underdog win was when Kentucky ( + 10 ) defeated Clemson 28 – 20 in 2006 . Other big upsets include Minnesota ( + 7 ) defeating Arkansas 29 – 14 in 2002 and Virginia ( + 6 ) defeating Minnesota 34 – 31 in 2005 . Boston College was a 4 point underdog when they defeated Georgia 20 – 16 in 2001 , West Virginia was a 3 point underdog when they beat Mississippi in 2000 , Syracuse was a 3 point underdog when they defeated Kentucky in 1999 and Minnesota was a 1 point underdog when they beat Alabama in 2004 . Boston College also fell victim to an upset in the Music City Bowl in 2008 , when the Vanderbilt Commodores ( + 4 ) , making their first bowl appearance since 1982 , defeated the 24th - ranked Eagles 16 - 14 . The only favored teams to have won the Music City Bowl are Virginia Tech ( −5 ) over Alabama in the first Music City Bowl in 1998 , Auburn ( −3 ) over Wisconsin in 2003 , Kentucky ( −7 ) over Florida State in 2007 , Mississippi State ( - 6 . 5 ) over Wake Forest in 2011 , and Vanderbilt ( - 7 . 5 ) over NC State in 2012 Music City Bowl [ 2012 . Game records . The most lopsided loss was Virginia Tech ' s 38 – 7 win over Alabama in 1998 . Alabama ' s 7 points in that game is a low for the Music City Bowl . The closest game was Vanderbilt ' s 16 - 14 win over Boston College in 2008 . This also marked the lowest point total in the bowl ' s history . The highest point total was West Virginia ' s 49 against Ole Miss in 2000 ; Ole Miss scored 38 in that game and the 87 point total in that game is a high for the Music City Bowl . The attendance record was set at the 2007 Music City Bowl in Kentucky ' s win over Florida State . Game results . † Denotes overtime ( s )