No. 15 ranked Iowa from the Big Ten will play Missouri from the Southeastern Conference in the 23rd edition of the TransPerfect Music City Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 30 at 3 pm inside Nissan Stadium in downtown Nashville, bowl representatives announced on Sunday.
The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
“Everyone has overcome an incredible amount of adversity this year to make TransPerfect’s first Music City Bowl possible, but no one more than the Iowa and Missouri football programs,” Phil Shawe, president/CEO of TransPerfect, said. “The focus, preparation, and execution that these student-athletes and coaching staffs have put forth in 2020 to earn their way to Nashville commands our respect and admiration. Congrats to both teams! Thank you to the SEC and Big Ten conferences, the TransPerfect Music City Bowl staff, and the fans for their continued support.”
This year’s game comes after a shortened year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Missouri began play Sept. 26 playing 10 conference only games. Additionally, Iowa started the season later than usual playing eight games in conference. This will be the first appearance in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl for both schools.
“On behalf of the TransPerfect Music City Bowl board of directors, our staff and our volunteers, we look forward to hosting Iowa and Missouri in Nashville on Dec. 30,” Scott Ramsey, president/CEO of the TransPerfect Music City Bowl, said. “This year has been anything but ordinary, but we are grateful for the continued partnership between the SEC, Big Ten, Metro Nashville government, Nissan Stadium officials, our broadcast partners at ESPN, our sponsors and the entire Nashville community for helping keep this holiday tradition going during this unique year.”
This year marks the Music City Bowl’s 23rd in downtown Nashville with TransPerfect serving as the bowl’s new title sponsor. TransPerfect is recognized as one of the worldwide leaders in translation services and technologies that enable businesses to reach audiences anywhere in the world and in any language. The company is the largest in its industry with more than 100 global offices on six continents, including global hubs in New York, London, Barcelona and Hong Kong.
TransPerfect’s sponsorship aligns with the bowl’s six-year exclusive partnership with the Big Ten and SEC.
Missouri went 5-5 over the shortened season with key wins over then No. 17 LSU, Kentucky and Arkansas. Connor Bazelak led the passing game with 2,366 yards and seven touchdowns through the air. Running back Larry Roundtree III accounted for 1,072 yards from scrimmage and 14 total touchdowns.
After dropping its first two games, Iowa won six-straight en-route to a 6-2 finish overall. The Hawkeyes finished second in the Big Ten’s West Division. Spencer Petras led Iowa with 1,569 passing yards and nine touchdowns through the air. Tyler Goodson was the Hawkeyes’ leading rusher with 762 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. Iowa is led by Kirk Ferentz, who is in his 180–127 in his 22nd season with the Hawkeyes.
This will be the first SEC/Big Ten meeting since 2018 when Auburn defeated Purdue. Last year, Louisville topped Mississippi State 38-28 in front of a crowd of 46,850 fans.
Established in 1998, the TransPerfect Music City Bowl has transformed the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day into one of the city’s busiest times of the year for tourism and has become Nashville’s holiday tradition.
Since its inception, the Bowl has produced over $350 million in direct economic impact to Nashville.
