Update December 8, 4:30 p.m.: It’s now official with the announcement of the Belk Bowl participants. Indiana will be facing the University of Tennessee Volunteers after a last minute change in plan for the Music City Bowl selection.
Indiana finally knows its bowl game destiny after the conclusion of the conference championship slate on Saturday, and the release of the updated College Football Playoff rankings. With signs all pointing to Kentucky leading up to the day, the Hoosiers will face a different SEC opponent shortly after the new year.
Indiana will be facing Tennessee in the 75th TaxSlayer Gator Bowl hosted on Thursday, January 2, 2020. The game will take place at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida.
Drama on Selection Sunday
Instead of the revitalization of the “Bourbon Barrel” game between Indiana-Kentucky, the final last minute call gave Tennessee the final selection (7-5, 5-3) in the Gator Bowl. The decision came due to Tennessee wanting to play away from Nashville, and because of the pecking order of team’s, Kentucky was bumped instead to the “lower” Belk Bowl. The Music City Bowl instead got the selection of Louisville and Mississippi State.
The Hoosiers are currently 0-1 against the Volunteers in the history of the series, with the last and only match up between the two taking place in the 1987 Peach Bowl that ended in a 27-22 victory for the Volunteers. That game took place on January 2, 1988, exactly 32 years prior to the two teams’ upcoming Gator Bowl matchup.
This is my 60th year as the Indiana football fan. I am so happy, and so excited. So very proud of all of our bid who have brought us to this point. And I think God for Coach Tom Alad his family and our coaches. And a big thank you to our athletic director Fred glass who had the courage to hire this great man to be our football coach and to know that he’s going to be here for the next seven years but above thrills my heart. I am one happy Hoosier.