Latest bowl projections include Tennessee facing a pair of Big Ten teams who the Vols rolled in their previous matchups
The playoff appears to be off the table for the Vols, but some interesting matchups are still in play.
The Tennessee Volunteers’ College Football Playoff chances are, at very best, on life support after a disappointing 33-27 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday night at Neyland Stadium. At that’s probably being a cockeye optimist at this point.
Instead, the likely outcome is Tennessee going to a mid-to-upper-tier non-CFP/BCS bowl game, a place they’ve called home every bowl-eligible season outside of 2024 for the last couple of decades.
But the opportunity could be there for a rematch against one of two Big Ten teams that Tennessee has faced that turned out very well for the Volunteers. ESPN’s Mark Schlabach projects Tennessee to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, while CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford has the Vols facing the Michigan Wolverines in the Citrus Bowl.
Tennessee projected by ESPN and CBS Sports analysts to face Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl and Michigan in the Citrus Bowl, respectively
The Vols face the Hawkeyes recently, finishing the 2023 season in Orlando against Iowa in the Citrus Bowl. In Nico Iamaleava’s first career start, he totaled 4 touchdowns as the Big Orange thrashed Iowa 35-0. As things currently stand, Iowa is 6-2 overall and ranked #23 in the Coaches Poll and the first team out of the AP Poll, so they’re firmly on the radar for the ReliaQuest Bowl, as likely are the Vols at this point.
Tennessee hasn’t faced Michigan since the end of the 2001 season (the schools’ only matchup), but like they did with Iowa 22 months ago, the Vols hammered the Wolverines in the Sunshine State, winning the Citrus Bowl 45-17 to wrap up an 11-2 season. Casey Clausen was named MVP with 393 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. Michigan currently sits at 21 in the AP Poll and 20 in the Coaches Poll at 7-2, and with Ohio State still on the schedule, a 9-3 season at best is a distinct possibility, which puts a Citrus Bowl bid firmly in play.
We’ll see if Tennessee can do their part to get to at least 8-4 or 9-3 to be considered for a bid for one or both of the aforementioned bowl games.
Tennessee Volunteers News
Oklahoma extended a short but unfortunate program trend inside Neyland Stadium in win over Tennessee
The Vols’ home field continued to be a welcoming venue for the Sooners.
