Georgia Tech has been selected to play in the Birmingham Bowl, the ACC announced Sunday.
The Yellow Jackets (7-5) will face Vanderbilt (6-6) at 3:30 p.m. ET Dec. 27 at Protective Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPN.
Tech is 20-15-3 against the Commodores and has won six straight in the series. Tech is also 12-0-1 in its last 13 against Vandy. The two programs have never met in a postseason game or at a neutral site.
Tech last played a postseason game in Birmingham in 1985 when they beat Michigan State in the All-American Bowl, also the last time the Jackets played a game of any sorts in the Iron City.
Brent Key, Tech’s second-year coach, is a Birmingham native and played high school football at Hewitt-Trussville High School. Key, 18-15 as Tech’s coach, received a contract extension Friday.
Tech wide receivers coach Trent McKnight is also an Alabama native and was a safety at Samford.
The Jackets have been off since Nov. 29 when they lost 44-42 to rival Georgia in eight overtimes at Sanford Stadium in Athens. That loss broke a short two-game winning streak that included victories over Miami and North Carolina State, respectively.
Vanderbilt is on a three-game losing streak, having ended the regular season with losses to South Carolina, LSU and Tennessee, respectively. The Commodores, coached by Clark Lea, were 6-3 on Nov. 2.
Tech is playing in a bowl game for the second season in a row, the first time that has happened since the 2013-14 season. If the Jackets win, they’ll have notched eight wins in a campaign for the first time since 2016. Tech has not won back-to-back bowl games since 2003-04.
NEXT GAME
Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt
Birmingham Bowl, Birmingham, Ala.
3:30 p.m. Dec. 27
ESPN, 680 AM, 93.7 FM
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
