Music City Bowl Rematch: Clemson vs. Kentucky

Bowl invitations are out, and somehow Clemson missed the party. Considering that the Tigers were a deflected pass or single drive away from the BCS, the Music City Bowl against Kentucky isn’t exactly a consolation prize.

Adding insult to injury, C.J. Spiller won’t be getting an invite to the Heisman ceremonies. Not exactly the Orange Bowl, Heisman sunset that Tiger fans imagined going into Saturday’s game.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl picked Virginia Tech as their selection, which came as no surprise, as officials stated all year that they would be selecting the highest-ranked ACC team available.

The shockers came when the Gator Bowl selected Florida State and the Champs Sports Bowl selected Miami.

Clemson beat both Florida schools in the regular season, but got snubbed by the bowl committees.

The Music City Bowl was as far as Clemson could fall as the runner up in the ACC. Luckily for future teams, new rules have been added to prevent conference runners-up from falling as far as Clemson did.  

As a final slap in the face, the Tigers athletic department requested the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte due to its proximity rather than the Music City Bowl in Nashville.

However, the same bowl tie-in rules that allowed Clemson to fall so far also prevented the Meineke Car Care Bowl from inviting the Tigers.   

Yet, there is still football to be played. Clemson is in serious danger of a letdown, although Dabo Swinney assures that his team will be ready and motivated come Dec. 27.

On paper, Clemson should dominate Kentucky, but after the showing the Tigers put up against South Carolina, no one can say with certainty what will happen when the best of the ACC meets the mediocrity of the SEC.

With plenty of practice and preparation time, I can’t really see Clemson dropping this one, in spite of the season ending disappointments.

The game will be shown in prime time on ESPN on Dec. 27 as the day’s only college football game.