Updating Tennessee's bowl projections after the first five games of the season
There was seemingly a consensus for Tennessee football’s bowl projections entering the season. Nearly every media outlet had the Vols headed to the Citrus Bowl in Orlando to face Wisconsin.
Five games into the season, those projections have shifted as the 22nd-ranked Vols (4-1, 1-1 SEC) enjoy their bye week before hosting Texas A&M (4-1, 2-0) on October 14 (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, CBS) at Neyland Stadium.
The bowl projections for Tennessee currently include the Gator Bowl, the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, the Music City Bowl and the Citrus Bowl, with USA Today as the lone outlet still projecting the Vols and Wisconsin in the Citrus.
The Action Network has Tennessee headed to the Gator Bowl to face Miami, and added that the Vols would currently be a three-point favorite against the Hurricanes. Tennessee and Miami have met in football just three times, with the Vols winning 35-7 in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day in 1986 and 10-6 at Miami in November 2003. The Hurricanes won 26-3 at Neyland Stadium in November 2002.
CBS Sports also has a Tennessee-Miami Gator Bowl as its current projection.
The Vols beat Texas A&M 3-0 in the 1957 Gator Bowl, beat Syracuse 18-12 in the 1966 Gator Bowl and lost 14-13 to Florida in the 1969 Gator Bowl. Texas Tech beat the Vols 28-19 I the 1973 Gator Bowl and Tennessee beat Virginia Tech 45-23 in the 1994 Gator Bowl, played at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville.
Tennessee beat Iowa 45-28 in 2015, when the Gator Bowl was known as the TaxSlayer Bowl and the Vols beat Indiana 23-22 in the 2019 Gator Bowl.
Both Athlon and the College Football Network have the Vols projected to play in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte against Syracuse. The Orange started the season 4-0 before losing to Clemson 31-14 at home last week.
Tennessee has never appeared in the Mayo Bowl, which was formerly known as the Belk Bowl. The Vols have faced Syracuse three times, including the 34-33 win at Syracuse to start the 1998 national championship season.
ESPN’s bowl projections from Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach have two different projections for Tennessee, but the same opponent for both games. Bonagura has the Vols in the Music City Bowl against Iowa while Schlabach has a Tennessee-Iowa Citrus Bowl.
Tennessee has played Iowa only three times in football, losing 28-22 in the 1982 Peach Bowl, winning 23-22 in East Rutherford, N.J. in 1987 and winning 45-28 in the 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl.
