Rightly so, a lot of attention is being paid to a plethora of high-profile Week 1 matchups in the college football season. There’s another intriguing matchup a week later, however, if for nothing more than the unique venue.
Sept. 10, Tennessee will square off with Virginia Tech in non-conference action. What makes the contest absolutely fascinating is that it will be played inside the NASCAR bullring known as Bristol Motor Speedway.
A crowd of 150,000 is expected for the highly-anticipated matchup, a number that would easily surpass the record attendance for an American football game. With the contest a little over a month away, BMS officials, as well as the athletic directors from each respective school, took part in the unveiling of the trophy that will go to the winner of what’s being dubbed the “Battle at Bristol.”BMS GM @jcaldwellbms, @WhitBabcock and Dave Hart pose with the official @PilotFlyingJ #BattleatBristol trophy! pic.twitter.com/L8Y6xDi4qm
— Battle At Bristol (@BattleAtBristol) August 10, 2016
TROPHY: Meet the @PilotFlyingJ #BattleatBristol Trophy. Who will take it home? @Vol_Football or @VT_Football? pic.twitter.com/0yV3QX16m4
— Battle At Bristol (@BattleAtBristol) August 10, 2016
The hardware weighs 88 pounds and stands roughly two feet tall. According to BMS, it took 300 man-hours to create.
Both teams, incidentally, will be paid in excess of $4 million each for the game.