On Sunday the Kentucky football team was rewarded with arguably its most prestigious bowl game in almost two decades.

The Cats are heading to Jacksonville, Fla., to take on Georgia Tech in the TaxSlayer Bowl.

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WHAT: TaxSlayer Bowl (formerly known as the Gator Bowl)

WHEN: December 31, 2016, 11 a.m.

WHERE: EverBank Field (Jacksonville, Fla.)

LINK: Game week events

SERIES HISTORY: Georgia Tech leads 11-7

LAST MEETING: Georgia Tech won 23-13 (Sept. 17, 1960 in Atlanta, GA)

GEORGIA TECH'S 2016 SEASON: The Yellow Jackets' best moment this year came in the season's final game. The Dawgs rallied for a 28-27 win against rival Georgia, on the road, in the 'Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate' game.

Georgia Tech started the season with a 17-14 win over Boston College (and former Kentucky quarterback Patrick Towles) in a game played in Ireland. They subsequently defeated Mercer and Vanderbilt (38-7), with the Commodores as a common opponent shared by Tech and UK.

Tech lost their next three games to Clemson (26-7), Miami (35-21) and Pittsburgh (37-35) but rebounded with wins against Georgia Southern and Duke, which pushed their record to 7-5.

North Carolina throttled Tech 48-20 but Paul Johnson's squad won its last three games, against Virginia Tech (in Blacksburg), Virginia and Georgia. They finished 4-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

One of their season's most dramatic games, besides the win over UGA, came against Duke. Georgia Tech ran out to a 28-7 lead but Duke rallied to make it 31-28 heading into the game's final quarter. Duke took a 35-31 lead but Tech's Justin Thomas threw a touchdown pass with just more than five minutes remaining to clinch the home win.

GEORGIA TECH's OFFENSIVE STATISTICAL LEADERS: Senior QB Justin Thomas (54.5%, 1,454 yards, 8 TD, 2 INT), Sophomore RB Marcus Marshall (96 carries, 624 yards, 4 TD), Freshman RB Dedrick Mills (121 carries, 602 yards, 11 TD), QB Thomas (128 rushes, 562 yards, 5 TD), Sophomore RB Clinton Lynch (35 carries, 392 yards, 2 TD; 16 receptions, 490 yards, 6 TD)), Sophomore RB Qua Searcy (41 carries, 271 yards, 2 TD, Sophomore QB Matthew Jordan (65 carries, 243 yards, 6 TD), Sophomore WR Brad Stewart (17 receptions, 372 yards), Junior WR Ricky Jeune (22 receptions, 368 yards, TD)

GEORGIA TECH'S DEFENSIVE STATISTICAL LEADERS: DB Corey Griffin (79 tackles, 4 TFL, sack, 2 INT, 3 PD), LB R.J. Davis (70 tackles), LB Brant Mitchell (68 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 INT, 3 PD, 2 QBH), DB A.J. Gray (64 tackles, 3.5 TFL), DB Lance Austin (47 tackles, 3 INT, 12 breakups), DL Patrick Gamble (47 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 5.5 sacks)

NOTES: This is the first time Kentucky and Georgia Tech will have competed against one another since 1960. The Yellow Jackets and Wildcats were both charter members of the Southeastern Conference in 1933. Georgia Tech left the SEC in 1964.

The All-ACC team, which was released a week ago, did not include any Yellow Jackets on the first or second team. Tech center Freddie Burden (redshirt senior) was a third team All-ACC selection. Kicker Harrison Butker (senior) was an honorable mention all-league pick, as was Gamble, the Jackets' top defensive lineman.

The TaxSlayer Bowl has a proud history and has mostly been known as the Gator Bowl in history. The SEC sent a representative to the Gator Bowl from 1953-1973 and again briefly from 1992-1994, but in modern times the game was traditionally played between the ACC and the Big East (1996-2010). The SEC has once again been locked in with the TaxSlayer Bowl since 2011.

Since 1972, the Gator Bowl (now the TaxSlayer) has pitted Top 25 teams against one another 25 times.

This year's game marks the first time the bowl game will not be played on New Year's Day or January 2 since 1994.

Kentucky has never competed in the TaxSlayer (Gator) Bowl.

RECENT SEC-AFFILIATED TAXSLAYER BOWL GAMES AND RESULTS

January 2, 2016: Georgia 24, Penn State 17

January 2, 2015: Tennessee 45, Iowa 28

January 1, 2014: Nebraska 24, (22) Georgia 19

January 1, 2013: (21) Northwestern 34, Mississippi State 20

January 2, 2012: Florida 24, Ohio State 17

January 1, 2011: (21) Mississippi State 52, Michigan 14

NOTABLE MVP'S OF PAST TAXSLAYER (GATOR) BOWL GAMES

Philip Rivers (NCSU, 2003), Michael Vick (Virginia Tech, 2001), Donovan McNabb (Syracuse, 1996), Levon Kirkland (Clemson, 1989), Thurman Thomas (Oklahoma State, 1984)

HIGHEST-RANKED TEAMS IN THE TAXSLAYER BOWL

No. 3 Florida (1992), No. 3 Pittsburgh (1980), No. 6 Virginia Tech (2001), No. 6 Auburn (1974), No. 6 Auburn (1972), No. 6 Georgia (1971), No. 7 North Carolina (1998), No. 7 LSU (1987), No. 7 South Carolina (1984)

All due respect to the Music City, which Kentucky has competed in three times since 1999 ('99, '06, '07), but the TaxSlayer Bowl is very likely the program's most prestigious bowl game since 1998, when the Cats competed against Penn State in the Outback Bowl.

The game is likely to be a big boost for Kentucky's recruiting efforts, particularly in Florida. The Cats will play their postseason game in the talent-rich Jacksonville, Fla., area, in a game that is both visible and deeply-embedded in Florida's culture. It wouldn't be a surprise if some of Kentucky's Florida recruits are able to make it to that game, but at the very least it's safe to say the coaches will be promoting their appearance in the TaxSlayer Bowl to recruits everywhere.

Georgia Tech gives Kentucky another opportunity for a win over an ACC opponent. The Yellow Jackets finished the 2016 season 8-4, with a road win at Georgia in the last week of the regular season.