Guaranteed Rate Bowl, Birmingham Bowl off; Army replaces Tennessee in Liberty Bowl

Dec. 21 (UPI) -- The 2020 Guaranteed Rate Bowl and 2021 Birmingham Bowl have been canceled due to ramifications from the COVID-19 pandemic, event organizers said.

Both bowl games announced the cancellations Sunday. The Guaranteed Rate Bowl -- planned for Saturday in Phoenix -- features teams from the Big 12 and Big Ten conferences.

"We were excited to host two quality institutions and stage a memorable experience for all involved," the Guaranteed Rate Bowl said in a news release.

"This is a disappointing result for our organization, community partners, sponsors, fans, staff and volunteers. A lot of care and thoughtful work has gone into planning, adjusting and executing an event of this stature."

Birmingham Bowl organizers cited "recent changes and the number of teams opting out of bowl season" in its cancellation announcement.

The 2021 Birmingham Bowl was slated for Jan. 1 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala. The annual event features teams from the Southeastern Conference and American Athletic Conference.

"We have made the difficult decision to cancel the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl," Birmingham Bowl executive director Mark Meadows said.

"As the inventory of available teams lessened, our ability to stage the game was compromised. We will direct our focus to next year's bowl, and look forward to staging the game in the 2021 season."

Meanwhile, the 2020 Military Bowl was canceled Monday because of the amount of bowl game opt-outs this postseason. The bowl, which matches teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and the AAC, was scheduled to take place Dec. 28 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md.

"While so many people worked tirelessly to make this year's Military Bowl happen, this is an incredibly disappointing step to take," Military Bowl president and executive director Steve Beck said in a statement.

Also Monday, it was announced that Army will replace Tennessee in the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 31. The Volunteers said they were pausing all team activities because of COVID-19 issues, leaving them unable to compete against West Virginia in the bowl game.

Army previously had an agreement to play in the Independence Bowl, but the game was called off Sunday after multiple teams opted out of postseason play.

"They were desperate for an opportunity to play one more time," Army head coach Jeff Monken said Monday night. "I was just humbled that people would think that much of our team and our young men to be advocates for them. Our players can't advocate for themselves. They got to just take what's offered.

"To have people that believe in them and think so highly of this institution and this program, really it's humbling."

Nearly two dozen Division I college football programs have opted out of bowl season due to COVID-19.