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Guaranteed Rate, Birmingham bowls canceled as college football teams opt out

The Guaranteed Rate Bowl won't take place this season due to what organizers cited as "unprecedented ramifications from the COVID-19 pandemic.''

The game had been scheduled to take place Saturday in Phoenix. Bowl officials said they expect their game to return for the 2021 season featuring teams from the Big Ten and Big 12.

The Birmingham Bowl scheduled for New Year's Day has also been canceled.

Mark Meadows, executive director of the game at Legion Field, made the announcement Sunday citing the number of teams opting out of bowl season because of COVID-19. "As the inventory of available teams lessened, our ability to stage the game was compromised,'' Meadows said. The game was set to match up teams from the American Athletic Conference and SEC.

The cancellation announcements come as numerous college teams have said they aren't planning to participate in bowl games, a list that Boise State joined Sunday afternoon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.