KENTUCKY - Regular season football is over, but three Kentucky schools will enjoy going to a bowl game.
The fun kicks off Monday, December 30.
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will travel to Dallas, Texas to play the Western Michigan Broncos on Monday, December 30. The Hilltoppers are making their first bowl appearance since 2016. The finished second in the Conference USA East behind Florida Atlantic with an overall record of 8-4. First year head coach Tyson Helton helped with one of the most impressive turnarounds in the country. WKU finished the 2018 season 3-9 overall and 2-6 in C-USA. The turnaround is tied for third in the nation for highest win increase from last year. This will be the 15th meeting between the Hilltoppers and the Broncos, but it has been awhile since they played one another. The last game was in 1947 and the Hilltoppers lost that one. Game time is 11:30 a.m. CST on ESPN. You can get tickets online at Ticketmaster.
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
Like WKU, the Louisville Cardinals had quite a turnaround going 2-10 overall and 0-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference last year and finishing this year 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the ACC. Under the guidance of first year coach and ACC Coach of the Year, Scott Satterfield, the Cardinals will travel south on I-65 to meet the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee. This is the second Music City Bowl appearance for the Cards. They played Texas A&M in 2015 with Heisman-winner Lamar Jackson leading the team to a 27-21 victory. Louisville is 2-3 all-time against the Bulldogs. The two last faced each other in the 2017 TaxSlayer Bowl with the Bulldogs winning that game 31-27. Tickets can be purchased at gocards.com/bowl. The Music City Bowl is also on Monday, December 30 at 4 p.m. EST on ESPN.
Belk Bowl
The final Commonwealth team playing in a bowl game is the Kentucky Wildcats. The Cats have a New Year's Eve bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina. They face the Virginia Tech Hokies at noon EST on ESPN. Coach Mark Stoops is taking the Wildcats to thir fourth straight bowl game. He joins Rich Brooks in this accomplishment. All Kentucky season ticket holders and eligible K Fund donors that placed requests for bowl tickets will receive tickets. Tickets for everyone else are on sale now online at UKFootballtix.com. Kentucky finished the season with a 7-5 record and Virginia Tech with 8-4 record. UK holds an 11-6-2 all-time record against the Hokies. The two teams last met in 1987 and Kentucky won 14-7.
