Tennessee football concludes its 2025 season later this month when the Vols face Illinois in the Music City Bowl. Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers and Cole Cubelic are on the call for ESPN. Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Dec. 30.
It’s the third Tennessee game that the Hart, Rodgers and Cubelic crew have called this season. The trio previously announced Tennessee football’s win over Kentucky as well as the Vols’ loss against Vanderbilt to conclude the regular season.
The Music City Bowl is the first true evening game that Tennessee has played in this season. Tennessee played six afternoon game this season along with its matchups against ETSU, Georgia, Mississippi State, Arkansas and New Mexico State. The Vols played four night game of the season including matchups against Florida, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Alabama. Tennessee played just two games in the noon time slot during the regular season facing Syracuse and UAB in the time slot.
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Tennessee football went 8-4 (4-4 SEC) in the regular season. The Vols took care of business against struggling SEC teams including Florida and Arkansas, but failed to get any quality wins. Tennessee lost to all four teams they faced that finished the season ranked.
The Fighting Illini entered the season with high expectations after going 10-3 with a bowl win over South Carolina a season ago. They disappointed a bit this year, posting an 8-4 (5-4 Big 10) record. Illinois lost by 53 points against Indiana and also lost to Ohio State, Washington and Wisconsin. Its best win came against USC back in late September.
It’s the first ever matchup between Tennessee and Illinois on the gridiron. The two have faced off in basketball each of the last three season with the Vols winning the first two matchups and Illinois knocking off Tennessee earlier this month in Nashville.
Tennessee football is currently 2.5-point favorites against Illinois in the Music City Bowl according to the DKSportsbook. The over/under is set at 61.5.
