The Auburn football team is officially going bowling in head coach Hugh Freeze’s first year on the Plains, achieving one of his major goals from the 2023 season.
After several years without true bowl experiences between COVID-19 and the Birmingham Bowl saga, some of the players on the team will be going through this process for the first time.
Following the College Football Playoff announcements, it was revealed that Auburn football will be taking on the Maryland Terrapins in the Transperfect Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee on December 30. The president and CEO of the Music City Bowl welcomed both teams in a statement,per The Tennessean:
"“We’re thrilled to welcome Auburn and Maryland to our game this year,” said Scott Ramsey, President & CEO of the Music City Bowl. “As we look forward to the unique matchup, we hope it will become another memorable chapter in the history of our bowl game and for Nashville as a whole, as we welcome back Auburn and introduce Maryland and its fans to our great city.”"
Auburn football finished with a 6-6 overall record and a 3-5 SEC record while Maryland finished 7-5 overall and 4-5 in Big 10 play. This will be the Tigers’ second trip to Nashville this season after their mid-season road trip to Vanderbilt.
Tiger fans took over Vanderbilt Stadium back in early November, and they can be expected to show up again at the end of this month. Reactions to the bowl destination were shared on X, formerly known as Twitter:
Most experts agree that the TransPerfect Bowl is a top-tier bowl. https://t.co/92tqMskdN4
— Auburn Tweeter (@Auburn_Tweeter) December 3, 2023
First and last bowl game here, War Damn https://t.co/UQwz0eD6KZ
— Kam (@_BigHomieKam) December 3, 2023
#WarEagle Nashville Bound!!!! https://t.co/1LyeTESKPn pic.twitter.com/5oFnJ1DTG4
— Johnnyknox07 (@johnnyknox07_) December 3, 2023
Just the way we drew it up 😎 https://t.co/UMShv3rpNq
— Greater Nashville Auburn Club (@AuburnNashville) December 3, 2023
Maryland and Auburn will kick off from Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenessee for the Music City Bowl at 1:00 p.m. on ABC.