Updated Bowl Projections: Four predicted destinations for Tennessee football
After the loss at Alabama on Saturday, No. 21 Tennessee is trending toward ending its season where it started, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. The most popular projection entering Week 9 is for a return trip to the Music City Bowl.
ESPN, College Football Network and USA Today this week all have projections for the Vols to face Maryland in the Music City Bowl on Saturday, December 30.
Elsewhere, both the The Action Network and The Sporting News have Tennessee headed to the Gator Bowl. The Action Network has the Vols facing Duke, with Tennessee as a 7.5-point favorite in the matchup, while The Sporting News has Minnesota as the opponent.
Athlon still has Tennessee headed to the Citrus Bowl to face Wisconsin, the most popular projection back in August. CBS Sports has the Vols headed to the ReliaQuest Bowl — formerly known as the Outback Bowl — to face North Carolina.
Projected Bowl Opponents
Duke: The Blue Devils started the season 4-0, including the season-opening win over Clemson, but have lost two of their last three, at home to Notre Dame and last week at Florida State. Duke is ranked No. 23 in the FPI.
Maryland: The Terps are 5-2 after starting 5-0 and losing back-to-back games at Ohio State and against Illinois. Maryland is currently fourth in the Big Ten East and ranked No. 28 in the FPI.
Wisconsin: The Badgers are first in the Big Ten West and improved to 5-2 with at Illinois on Saturday. Wisconsin lost at Washington State in Week 2 and lost 15-6 at home against Iowa two weeks ago. The FPI has Wisconsin ranked No. 29 overall.
Minnesota: The Gophers started 2-0 but are 2-3 since then, but are coming off a 12-10 win at Iowa last week. Minnesota is ranked No. 58 overall in the FPI.
Tennessee Football Bowl History
Tennessee has played in the Gator Bowl seven times.
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 in 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.
Tennessee has played in the Citrus Bowl five times, including three trips in four years between 1994 and 1997. The Vols beat Maryland 30-23 in the 1983 Citrus Bowl and lost to Penn State 31-13 in 1994. Tennessee won back-to-back Citrus Bowls on New Year’s Day 1996 and 1997, beating Ohio State 20-14 and Northwestern 48-28. The Vols beat Michigan 45-17 on January 1, 2002.
The ReliaQuest Bowl has hosted the Vols four times. Tennessee lost 20-10 to Penn State in 2007, beat Wisconsin 21-16 in 2008 and beat Northwestern 45-6 on New Year’s Day 2016.
Tennessee has played in the Music City Bowl three times, most recently being a 47-45 loss to Purdue in 2021. The Vols beat Nebraska 38-24 in December 2016 and lost to North Carolina 30-27 in December 2010.
