Tennessee Vols: Early bowl projection has UT staying close to home
The Tennessee Vols haven't reached a bowl game since the end of the 2016 season, but Watch Stadium's Brett McMurphy (formerly of ESPN) is projecting that UT will end their post-season drought in 2019. McMurphy recently released his (very) early bowl projections for next season and he has the Volunteers playing the Pittsburgh Panthers in […]
The Tennessee Vols haven't reached a bowl game since the end of the 2016 season, but Watch Stadium's Brett McMurphy (formerly of ESPN) is projecting that UT will end their post-season drought in 2019.
McMurphy recently released his (very) early bowl projections for next season and he has the Volunteers playing the Pittsburgh Panthers in the Belk Bowl at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
The Panthers are coming off a 7-7 season that included a loss to the Clemson Tigers in the ACC championship game. Pittsburgh also lost to Stanford in the Sun Bowl on New Year's Eve.
Tennessee has never appeared in the Belk Bowl, which was previously known as the Continental Tire Bowl and the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
An appearance in the Belk Bowl would be a great thing for the Vols. First off, reaching a bowl game is an absolute must in Jeremy Pruitt's second season as Tennessee's head coach.
And then there's the location of the Belk Bowl. Pruitt and his staff have been heavily recruiting the state of North Carolina. A second game in two years at Bank of America Stadium (UT opened the 2018 season against West Virginia in Charlotte) would certainly be helpful in recruiting.
The past three SEC teams to reach the Belk Bowl finished the regular season with seven wins. That means if the Vols were to play in the Belk Bowl next season, they'd likely have a realistic chance of finishing the season with eight wins.
I think most Vol fans would be extremely happy with eight wins after winning only nine games total the previous two seasons.
Featured image via Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
