Final score predictions for Music City Bowl between Illinois and Tennessee — Which shade of orange will reign supreme in Nashville?

The Vols and Illini will look to end their seasons on a high note in the Music City.

Adam Holt, Craig Smith, Travis May, Zach Ragan
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The Tennessee Vols and Illinois Fighting Illini will wrap up their respective 2025 seasons on Tuesday in a chilly Nashville in the Music City Bowl.

At 8-4, both teams come in relatively similar to each other. Both won most of the games they should have but also mostly fell short in the biggest games on their schedule, with the exception of Illinois’ 34-32 win over USC. Also, with offenses that have a lot of big play potential but with defenses that have been exposed throughout the year, these teams are relatively similar on the field as well.

So, which shade of orange will come out on top in Nashville? We put it to some of our college football writers to see.

Tennessee 38, Illinois 30

This battle for orange bragging rights should be one of the more fun bowl games to watch outside of the playoff matchups, in my opinion. Both teams have some explosive aspects to their offense, and neither side was known for their defensive prowess over the course of the 2025 campaign.

The Volunteers’ passing game is what may give them a true edge here. Illinois will be without Gabe Jacas, a top rusher, and they haven’t seen many offenses that work quite as quickly as Josh Heupel’s may look to in this game. While Chris Brazzell II isn’t going to suit up, the pass catcher group for the Vols still has plenty of upside.

I’m going to go with Tennessee in a bit of a barn burner, where neither team should be forced to punt often. – Adam Holt, A to Z Sports NFL Draft contributor

Tennessee 37, Illinois 23

Illinois has done a great job for much of the 2025 season taking care of business against the bad teams and at least holding their own against the best teams on their schedule. However, this Music City Bowl is a matchup nightmare for the Illini against the Tennessee Vols. The Vols should have the speed and athleticism edge on the perimeter (even after opt-outs) They should be able to consistently bring pressure into the lap of Illinois QB Luke Altmyer since Tennessee has ranked top 20 in pass rush rate stats all season long too.

The Tennessee offense has ranked top five in yards per game all year and inside the top 15 in EPA per play and other key efficiency measures all year. Illinois hasn’t scratched the top 50 in almost any offensive category. The Vols’ defense has been imperfect too, but Illinois’ defense has ranked horribly for their standards too. Most every statistical and physical edge goes to the Vols here. The betting lines have this as a near coin flip. It should really be a multiple possession win for Tennessee, easily. – Travis May, A to Z Sports College Football Managing Editor

Tennessee 38, Illinois 30

These games are always tough to predict, just because it’s hard to know what the “bowl game” versions of teams will look like. But Tennessee seems motivated to end the season on the right note. That mindset combined with most of Tennessee’s offense playing in this game has me feeling good about the Vols outscoring Illinois in a shootout. – Zach Ragan, A to Z Sports Tennessee

Tennessee 34, Illinois 31

Like Zach, I feel like this is a tough game to fully be able to project, largely because of opt outs. Tennessee will be without three of their best players on defense in EDGE Joshua Josephs, LB Arion Carter, and CB Colton Hood. As such, a leaky group just got potentially leakier.

However, aside from WR Chris Brazzell II, the offense will be mostly intact for the game. Illinois’ defense has been hit or miss in their last five, with strong performances against Rutgers, Maryland, and Northwestern, but with putrid ones against Washington and Illinois. It’ll be “miss” against Tennessee’s offense in a close and entertaining game that the Vols steal at the end. – Craig Smith, A to Z Sports Tennessee

So, the majority of our writers see Tennessee winning by one score, with one calling for a comfortable Vols victory over the Illini. We’ll find out soon enough, as toe meets leather inside Nissan Stadium on Tuesday at 5:30 pm ET.

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