Bowl Projections: Two possibilities for Tennessee coming into focus
Rarely in college football is there a consensus. Bowl projections for Tennessee are getting closer and closer to a consensus, though.
The Vols beat Vanderbilt 56-0 to close the regular season on Saturday at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville and now are New Years Six Bowl-bound following the program’s first 10-win regular season since 2003.
Seven national outlets are projecting an Orange Bowl bid for Tennessee, matching the Vols up against Dabo Swinney and his Clemson Tigers after South Carolina upset Clemson 31-30 on Saturday, ending the program’s 40-game win streak at Memorial Stadium in Clemson.
Tennessee would be a one-point underdog against Clemson, according to Action Network.
South Carolina beat Tennessee 63-38 two weeks ago at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, seemingly ending any chance the Vols had at a berth in the four-team College Football Playoff field.
There would be plenty to talk about should Clemson and Tennessee match up in Miami.
Last week, Swinney said the Vols got caught looking ahead, trying to figure out if they would be playing in the Fiesta Bowl or the Peach Bowl in the playoff, and forgot about South Carolina standing in the way.
“They’re flipping burgers during the conference championship weekend,” Swinney said of the Vols, “like are we going to Atlanta or Phoenix, and next thing you know you forget you gotta go play.”
Here are the latest bowl projections for Tennessee after Saturday’s games:
Capital One Orange Bowl — Dec. 30, Miami
ESPN: Tennessee vs. Clemson
CBS Sports: Tennessee vs. Clemson
Sports Illustrated: Tennessee vs. Clemson
Athlon: Tennessee vs. Clemson
Action Network: Tennessee vs. Clemson
USA Today: Tennessee vs. Clemson
Allstate Sugar Bowl — Dec. 31, New Orleans
Saturday Down South: Tennessee vs. Kansas State
College Football News: Tennessee vs. Kansas State
Tennessee has made seven appearances in the Sugar Bowl, but none in the last 31 years— 1941, 1943, 1952, 1957, 1971, 1986 and 1991. The Vols have appeared in the Orange Bowl four times — 1939, 1947, 1968 and 1998.
The Orange Bowl will be played on Friday, December 30 at 8 p.m. Eastern Time and will be televised by ESPN, live from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Fla. The Sugar Bowl will be played on December 31, a Noon ET kickoff on ESPN from Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
The new College Football Playoff Top 25 will be released Tuesday night. Tennessee would have to be ranked ahead of Alabama in the final CFP Top 25 to be selected for the Sugar Bowl.
After the top four teams have been picked for the playoff, the remaining New Year Six Bowls pick from conference champions from the Power 5, a Group of 5 team — the highest-ranked conference champion from the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West and Sun Belt — and the highest-ranked remaining Power 5 teams with respect to bowl tie-ins.
The Sugar Bowl gets the highest-ranked teams from the SEC and Big 12 outside of the top four. The Orange Bowl gets the ACC vs. the Big Ten, SEC or Notre Dame and The Rose Bowl matches up the Pac-12 and Big Ten.
