As president and CEO of the Music City Bowl, Scott Ramsey has spent the past week mentally juggling moving parts, keeping an eye on developments with other bowl games and envisioning contingency plans for selection day.
On Sunday, the College Football Playoff will announce its four semifinalists at 11 a.m. on ESPN, and from there, all the other bowls will make a mad dash to fill their spots.
"This week is where you run multiple scenarios so you're ready on Sunday,'' Ramsey said from Nashville, where the Music City Bowl will be played Dec. 31. "It's a pretty crazy week, just being prepared on all the what-ifs.''
For the Gophers, the what-ifs will be resolved Sunday, and indications are that their two most likely destinations are the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 29 at Yankee Stadium or the Music City Bowl. Things could change based on how the conference championship games play out, so don't reserve your travel package just yet.
Ramsey said the Music City Bowl is considering Iowa, Illinois and the Gophers to face an SEC opponent. Minnesota played in the Nashville bowl in 2002, '04 and '05, and that might tip the scale in favor of Iowa or Illinois, which have not played in the bowl.
"We've really worked with the conference office on doing the best we can to putting some teams in places they haven't been,'' Ramsey said. "Certainly, it's been a long time for Minnesota, but the other teams that probably would factor in our mix are Illinois or Iowa. … We haven't had either one of those teams.''
Iowa was scheduled to play in this game in 2020, but the bowl was canceled because of COVID-19, so a mulligan could be in the works for the Hawkeyes.
My projection: Iowa vs. Ole Miss.