THE FLATS – In one of the more intriguing matchups of the 2024 bowl season, Georgia Tech football has accepted an invitation to play Vanderbilt in the 2024 Birmingham Bowl. The Birmingham Bowl will be held on Friday, Dec. 27 at Protective Stadium in downtown Birmingham, Ala., with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
The matchup pits Georgia Tech (7-5, 5-3 ACC) against Vanderbilt (6-6, 3-5 SEC) for the 39th time overall, but the first time in the postseason. The Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series, 20-15-3, but are 12-0-1 against the Commodores since 1948 and haven’t lost to Vandy since 1941. The Jackets have won six-straight in the series since a 10-10 tie in 1965.
Most recently, Tech and Vandy have squared off four times since 2002, with the Jackets winning 45-3 (2002 in Atlanta), 24-17 in overtime (2003 in Nashville), 56-31 (2009 in Nashville) and 38-7 (2016 in Atlanta).
Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt were conference-mates for 48 years – in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1916-21), Southern Conference (1922-32) and Southeastern Conference (1933-63). Their rivalry spawned a traveling trophy – a cow bell – that has been awarded to the winning team since 1924. Tech has had possession of the bell since its 13-0 win over Vandy in 1948.
This season, Tech and Vanderbilt are among the 14 unranked teams that have knocked off top-10 opponents, with the Jackets beating No. 10 Florida State on Aug. 24 and No. 4 Miami (Fla.) on Nov. 9, and the Commodores taking down No. 1 Alabama on Oct. 5.
The bowl appearance is Georgia Tech’s 47th, which is tied for 15th all-time. The Yellow Jackets are 26-20 in bowl games, with the 26 victories tied for 11th all-time and the .565 winning percentage also ranking 11th among teams with a minimum of 15 bowl wins.
Last season, in its first bowl appearance since 2018, Georgia Tech defeated UCF, 30-17, in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa.
For full ticket information, visit ramblinwreck.com/bowl.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and at www.ramblinwreck.com.
