The 2025 Music City Bowl is set. Tennessee and Illinois football will meet at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. Kickoff is scheduled for Dec. 30 at 5:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. CT and will air on ESPN.
After the announced matchup, Illini head coach Bret Bielema gave his thoughts on the matchup and bowl game designation. Bielema’s team finished the year 8-4 (5-4 Big Ten) under his watch.
“Thank you to the Nashville Sports Council and CEO Scott Ramsey for the invitation to this year’s Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl,” said Bielema. “We are excited to accept the invitation to a first-class bowl game against a quality SEC opponent in Tennessee. This is an outstanding opportunity for our program and our fans to celebrate one of the most accomplished groups of seniors in Illinois history with a national spotlight. We will see all the Illini FamILLy in Nashville.”
Block I in the 615. pic.twitter.com/cqJ6bgEzyf
— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) December 7, 2025
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Illinois director of athletics Josh Whiteman also gave his thoughts on the program’s acceptance of the invitation to head south to Nashville for the game.
“We are pleased to accept the invitation to play in the 2025 Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl and represent the Big Ten Conference in Nashville,” said Whiteman. “I want to congratulate Coach Bielema, our players, coaches and staff, and all of our fans, donors and other key partners for continuing to elevate our program. This bowl trip is a well-earned reward for another successful season and also presents a tremendous opportunity to continue re-writing our records book. We look forward to thousands of the Illini FamILLy joining us for a memorable experience in Nashville.”
In 2025, Illinois claimed wins over Western Illinois, Duke, Western Michigan, USC, Purdue, Rutgers, Maryland and Northwestern. It lost games against Indiana, Ohio State, Washington and Wisconsin.
The Illini boast Luke Altmyer at quarterback. When Nico Iamaleava left for UCLA in the spring, Altmyer was linked as a possible option for Tennessee, but he ultimately decided to stay put. He completed 68% of passes for 2,811 yards, 21 touchdowns and five interceptions this year.
