There are still 53 days until the start of the 2025 Tennessee football season, but we’ve already got some early bowl projections to look at with training camp just around the corner in August.
Tennessee has played postseason football in all four seasons under Josh Heupel, with three bowl games and one trip to the College Football Playoffs. The Vols lost to Purdue in a controversial overtime heartbreaker in 2021 but rattled off wins over Clemson and Iowa in the Orange Bowl and Citrus Bowl over the next two seasons. Tennessee’s most recent postseason game came in a tough blowout loss to eventual National Champion Ohio State in Columbus last December.
While Athlon Sports doesn’t have Tennessee returning to the playoffs this winter, it does have the Vols taking on a former playoff team from the previous go-around.
Athlon has Tennessee facing SMU in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. The bowl site is an ACC-SEC matchup scheduled for January 2, 2026. Tennessee previously played at Bank of America Stadium in the Duke’s Mayo Classic last season, dominating No. 24 NC State by a score of 51-10.
The Mustangs went 11-1 with an 8-0 conference record during the 2024 season. The record was good enough to slot the Ponies as the 11-seed in the playoffs, where they fell to Penn State by a score of 38-10 in the first round.
Tennessee, meanwhile, landed the 9-seed in the playoffs last season after a 10-2, 6-2 SEC record in 2024.
Both SMU and Tennessee have an over/under win total set at 8.5 wins, according to BetMGM.
SEC teams in Athlon’s College Football Playoff prediction include 1-seed Texas, 4-seed Georgia, 7-seed LSU, and 8-seed Alabama.
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With just a few weeks until training camp, there are several stories to keep an eye on with Tennessee Football. The first and biggest one, and the one that will certainly get the most attention from the media, is the Vols’ upcoming quarterback battle. With Nico Iamaleava out the door and back in California, Heupel and his staff will oversee a battle between App State/UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar, redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger, and true freshman George MacIntyre. Aguilar appears to be the favorite due to his lengthy experience, but Merklinger’s prior knowledge of the Tennessee system could put him ahead if the talent takes the next step forward.
On the defensive side of the ball, Tennessee will still present a stout defensive line despite the departures of James Pearce Jr., Omari Thomas, and Omarr Norman-Lott. Tennessee EDGE rusher Joshua Josephs appears ready to take the spotlight on the end of the line, while the Vols still have good depth with players like Tyre West, Bryson Eason, and Dominic Bailey. While his injury recovery still presents a question mark that should be answered during training camp, Tennessee also returns star cornerback Jermod McCoy to go along with Rickey Gibson III and Colorado transfer Colton Hood.
How about an impact freshman to note? Tennessee signed five-star tackle David Sanders Jr. in the last recruiting cycle, who was the No. 9 overall player according to On3 Sports’ industry rankings. He’s expected to compete for a starting tackle spot with four of Tennessee’s starting offensive line spots vacant. Tennessee also went out and signed Wendell Moe and Sam Pendleton in the transfer portal to add some experience in the trenches.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee football offseason coverage, including SEC Media Days next week in Atlanta.
