Preseason bowl predictions for Tennessee Football
Tennessee Football made its College Football Playoff debut in 2024, the first season with the expanded 12-team playoff bracket. The ninth-seeded Vols didn’t make it out of the first round, though, losing 42-17 at No. 8 Ohio State, the start of the Buckeyes’ run to the national championship.
The preseason bowl projections for Tennessee don’t have the Vols making a return to the playoff bracket. Instead, the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and the Music City Bowl are a couple popular landing spots.
On3’s Brett McMurphy
On3 Prediction: Tennessee vs. Duke, Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Tennessee and Duke have played 29 times in a series dates back to a 70-0 Duke win in Durham in November 1893. The Vols have won the last three meetings, all in Knoxville, in 1989, 1993 and 2003.
Duke is ranked No. 54 in ESPN’s Football Power Index, which gives the Blue Devils a 65.9% chance to win six games and predicts a 6-6 win-loss record this season.
Tennessee has never played in the Duke’s Mayor Bowl but was in Charlotte last September for a 51-10 win over North Carolina State in the Duke’s Mayo Classic at Bank of America Stadium.
College Football News
College Football News Prediction: Music City Bowl vs. Illinois
Tennessee and Illinois have no football history between the two programs. The Vols have played in the Music City Bowl three times, losing to North Carolina in 2010, beating Nebraska in 2016 and losing to Purdue in 2021.
One preseason prediction has Illinois finishing in fourth in the Big Ten, behind Penn State, Ohio State and Oregon. The Illini won 10 games last season and return Luke Altmyer at quarterback.
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CBS Sports
CBS Sports Prediction: Duke’s Mayo vs. Florida State
Tennessee and Florida State have met just twice, with the Vols beating the Seminoles 23-16 in January 1999 to win the BCS National Championship to cap a perfect 13-0 season in 1998. FSU beat Tennessee 10-0 on October 25, 1958 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.
Florida State went a perfect 13-0 and won the ACC championship in 2023, but was left out of the four-team College Football Playoff after Jordan Travis suffered a gruesome leg injury in a 58-13 win over North Alabama in November. FSU went just 2-10 last season.
Sporting News
Sporting News Prediction: Music City vs. Indiana
Tennessee is 2-0 in its only two meetings with Indiana, beating the Hoosiers 23-22 in the Gator Bowl in January 2020 and 22-17 in the Peach Bowl in January 1988.
The Vols lost four of the first five games of the 2019 season and were 2-5 after a loss at No. 1 Alabama, but then won six straight games to end the season, capped by the Gator Bowl win over Indiana.
The Hoosiers went 11-2 last season, the first under head coach Curt Cignetti, but lost 27-17 at Notre Dame in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
