People of Nashville are looking forward to 31st December, not just to celebrate the arrival of the New Year but also to witness a nail biting match between the Boston College Eagles and the Vanderbilt Commodores. Boston College will be representing the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in the eleventh annual Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl and will be facing Southeastern Conference's (SEC) Vanderbilt University.



The Boston College Eagles are making their second postseason appearance in Nashville and have a formidable line up. Their defense is virtually impregnable. The Eagles lead the ACC in rushing defense and rank second in scoring defense in winning the Atlantic Division for the second straight year. They are the nation's longest bowl winners, with nine wins in a row. They last participated in the bowl in 2001.

Fans would love to see Vanderbilt score and more over see a good fighting match; Vanderbilt will be the favorites amongst the crowd as they are the home team. They are playing their first bowl game after 1982. The Vanderbilt captain DJ Moore would be expecting a good performance from his team; he himself is second in the SEC in interceptions. The Commodores were ranked third in their regular season in SEC east.

Since the Commodores are playing in a bowl match after as long as 26 years, it makes all the more necessary for their fans to see the match because you don't want to wait for another 26 years, do you? The game would be tough because they are pitted against the Eagles who have won nine straight bowl appearances. Vandy on the other hand will be entering with a streak of losses. They lost six of its last seven games. Vandy's offense is not of the level that they can match the physical and skillful might of the Eagles.

The Commodores will be banking on some of its key players to deliver. Captain D.J. Moore is one of the players to look out for. Moore will be playing more than half of the game on the offense and is the only player on the offense who can create some worries in the defense camp of the Eagles. Moore is explosive and will also return punts and kickoffs.

The redshirt freshman, Chris Marve, started all throughout the season and was amongst the leaders in the team in tackles, he has the brains to diagnose plays and the speed to get there, plus the technique to avoid blockers.

Steven Stone is the most likely D-lineman to mount a pass rush. He'll match up against big Anthony Castonzo and Rich Lapham. They are big but they can be beaten with speeding on the edge. Right Back Jared Hawkins is raring to go out in the field as he spent the last season dealing with his foot injury. The Eagles will be a tough nut to crack for Hawkins as they are one of the top 10 rush defenses in the nation. But as long as the line can get off the ball quickly and get leverage against mammoth Ron Brace and B.J. Raji, they can be cracked. Hawkins can prove worthy and crack the defense if he gets to the crease.

The Music city bowl is in its eleventh year. The bowl is a post season collegiate bowl which features the teams from Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The 2007 Bowl game between Kentucky and Florida State was a full house and caught more than five million eyeballs on Television.