Fun Facts: Iowa-Kentucky Music City Bowl, the Taylor Swift edition

The TransPerfect Music City Bowl. It screams “Fun!”

Well, maybe it doesn’t scream it. But here are some Fun Facts about the Iowa-Kentucky game.

1. This is Iowa’s 1,294th football game, but its first in Tennessee.

2. No team has played in more Music City Bowls than Kentucky. This is its sixth appearance.

3. Iowa was supposed to play Missouri in the 2020 Music City Bowl, but the game was canceled three days before its scheduled date because of a rise of COVID-19 cases in the Missouri program.

4. Kirk Ferentz of Iowa is one win from tying Joe Paterno for most bowl victories by a then-Big Ten coach. Ferentz is 9-9 in bowls.

5. Boston College is the only Power Five conference team that has allowed more quarterback sacks than the 42 Kentucky’s quarterbacks have endured.

6. Nevada lost all eight of the games it played after it lost 27-0 at Iowa. FCS national-finalist South Dakota State has won all 13 of the games it played since it lost 7-3 at Iowa.

7. Kentucky had nine rushing touchdowns this season. None of the three players who scored them will participate in the bowl.

8. Iowa ranks first nationally in fewest yards allowed per play, 4.1.

9. This is the first season since 1929 in which the Hawkeyes have held eight opponents to 10 points or less.

10. Kentucky has won its last 20 nonconference games.

11. The over/under for this game opened at 31 points at several sports books. The lowest over/under ever for any college game was this year’s Northwestern-Iowa contest, at 31.5. The Hawkeyes won, 33-13.

12. All but one of Kentucky’s 12 games went under the over/under number. Eight of Iowa’s did.

13. Iowa produces 25 percent of the nation’s ethanol. Kentucky produces 95 percent of the nation’s bourbon.

14. This is Iowa’s first New Year’s Eve game since it lost to Arizona State in the 1997 Sun Bowl. ASU’s Pat Tillman had eight tackles in the game.

15. The Hawkeyes lead the nation in fewest plays of 20 yards or more allowed, with just 24. The next-closest entering the bowls was Syracuse and Virginia, with 32.

16. Neither the Hawkeyes nor their opponents have reached 400 yards in an Iowa game this season. Fifty-nine FBS teams average over 400 yards per game.

17. Kentucky has won its last four bowls, all by one score.

18. According to QuoteWizard, Nashville is the U.S. city with the worst potholes problem.

19. Few of Nashville’s most-famous eats are considered health food. That includes hot chicken, corn pudding, biscuits and cheese grits.

20. Nissan Stadium is the site of this game. The cheapest tickets for the game on StubHub.com are in the $20 range. The cheapest tickets for Taylor Swift’s three concerts at the same venue, May 5-7, are over $445.