UK fans gobbling up Music City tickets

By Chip Cosby / ccosby@herald-leader.com

Judging by the tone on the message boards and sports talk radio, a large segment of Kentucky fans still haven't gotten over the overtime loss to Tennessee in the regular-season finale.

But that hasn't stopped Wildcats fans from buying tickets for the Dec. 27 Music City Bowl in Nashville.

UK sold out its initial allotment of 12,000 tickets, went back to Music City Bowl officials for 4,000 more and has almost sold all of those, according to a report in the Tennessean newspaper. Clemson officials said they had sold about 3,000 tickets.

Total sales for the game at LP Field are approaching 57,000, which already surpasses last year's Music City Bowl attendance of 54,250, when Vanderbilt beat Boston College.

The Kentucky-Florida State game in 2007 attracted 68,661 and the Kentucky-Clemson game in 2006 drew 68,024 — the two largest crowds in Music City Bowl history.

Club-level tickets for this year's game are sold out, both at UK and the Music City Bowl office. Lower level tickets ($50) may be purchased in-person at the UK Ticket Office in the Joe Craft Center; by calling the ticket office at 1-800-928-2287; or by mail or fax using a printed order form from UKathletics.com. UK also has a limited number of upper-level tickets remaining at $35 each.

"I think we've got a great group of fans, and I think the ones who get heard the loudest are the ones you can't please very well," UK Coach Rich Brooks said.