Wow, the money the Volunteers ponied up to get out of the home-and-home with Carolina seems well-spent now, doesn't it? The Heels are finally going to get the interstate matchup we've al wanted – I remember being excited when there was the possibility of the two teams meeting in the 1998 Sugar Bowl – as UNC will travel to Nashville to play Tennessee in the Music CIty Bowl.
All right, technically it's the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl, a horribly unwieldily name I doubt you'll see me type more than once; the important thing is that Carolina gets an extra twenty or so days of practice and a game against opponent we'd actually like to see. Tennessee cracked bowl eligibility with a .500 record after starting 2-6, led by a freshman quarterback Tyler Bray. The fact that the final four-game stretch included only one bowl eligible team, 6-6 Kentucky, didn't hurt the Volunteers' postseason chances either. We'll get to see whether their late-season turn around is real or a product of weak competition, as well as if UNC can break out of their three-game bowl losing streak now that car parts manufacturers are no longer involved.
The game is a scant twenty-four days away, and will be played on the 30th and shown on ESPN. So gentlemen, start your... idle waiting, I suppose.