The 2025 Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl will feature Josh Heupel’s Tennessee Volunteers taking on Bret Bielema’s Illinois Fighting Illini from Nashville, TN, on Tuesday night. The game will be played inside the Tennessee Titans’ Nissan Stadium.
After both teams finished the season with 8-4 records, each was selected from its respective conference to play in the Music City Bowl. For Tennessee, it’ll be a home-state game with the Volunteers possessing a huge section of the fanbase in the midstate.
While opt-outs and portal departures are common in today’s day and age, both Tennessee and Illinois will have their starting quarterbacks back at the helm for the game. Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar will be the returning signal caller for the Vols and Luke Altmyer will lead the Illini’s offense. Predictions have suggested that this could be a high-scoring game, and these quarterbacks are two big reasons why.
ESPN’s Football Power Index and the betting line project Tennessee to win this game, but when it’s bowl season, you just never know. We’ll have to wait until Tuesday evening to find out.
Here’s a look at everything you need to know ahead of the game coming up on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville, TN:
How to Watch – Illinois Fighting Illini (8-4, 5-4 Big Ten) vs Tennessee Volunteers (8-4, 4-4 SEC) | Music City Bowl
- Date: Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025
- Location: Nissan Stadium – Nashville, TN
- Start Time: 4:30 p.m. CT/5:30 p.m. ET
- TV: ESPN
- Online Streaming:
- Radio (Knoxville): Vol Network (FM 107.7 in Knoxville)/The Vol Network App
- Radio (Sirius): Sirius XM Channel 374
- Television Crew: Tom Hart (PxP), Jordan Rodgers (analyst), and Cole Cubelic (sideline reporter)
Betting Odds
Tennessee is currently a point favorite heading into the game on Tuesday.
Here’s a look at some of the odds:
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Previous Matchups
This is the first-ever meeting between Tennessee and Illinois.
Tennessee Postseason History Under Josh Heupel
2021: (Music City Bowl) – Purdue 48, Tennessee 45
2022: (Orange Bowl) – Tennessee 31, Clemson 14
2023: (Citrus Bowl) – Tennessee 35, Iowa 0
2024: (College Football Playoffs) – Ohio State 42, Tennessee 17
More From RTI: Three Numbers to Know When Tennessee Football Plays Illinois in the Music City Bowl
Stat Leaders (Season Totals)
Tennessee:
- Passing: QB Joey Aguilar – 3,444 passing yards, 258-of-386, 24 TDs, 10 INTs
- Rushing: RB DeSean Bishop – 983 yards, 163 carries, 14 TDs
- Receiving: WR Braylon Staley* – 806 yards, 64 receptions, 6 TDs
- Sacks: DL Dominic Bailey – 5.5 sacks
- Tackles: LB Edwin Spillman* – 74 tackles
*Chris Brazzell Jr. (leading WR) and LB Arion Carter (leading tackler) have opted out of the game.
Illinois:
- Passing: QB Luke Altmyer – 2,811 passing yards, 226-of-332, 21 TDs, 5 INTs
- Rushing: RB Ca’Lil Valentine – 549 yards, 123 carries, 4 TDs
- Receiving: WR Hank Beatty – 826 yards, 64 receptions, 3 TDs
- Sacks: LB Leon Lowery Jr.* – 2.0 sacks
- Tackles: DB Miles Scott* – 59 tackles
*LB Gabe Jacas (leading sacks) has opted out, S Matthew Bailey (leading tackler) out injured.
2025 Season Record
Tennessee (8-4):
- W: vs Syracuse 45-26 (ATLANTA)
- W: vs ETSU 72-17 (KNOXVILLE)
- L: vs Georgia 44-41 OT (KNOXVILLE)
- W: vs UAB 56-24 (KNOXVILLE)
- W: at Mississippi State (STARKVILLE)
- W: vs Arkansas 43-31 (KNOXVILLE
- L: at Alabama 37-20 (TUSCALOOSA)
- W: at Kentucky 56-34 (LEXINGTON)
- L: vs Oklahoma 33-27 (KNOXVILLE)
- W: vs New Mexico State 42-9 (KNOXVILLE)
- W: at Florida 31-11 (GAINESVILLE)
- L: vs Vanderbilt 45-24 (KNOXVILLE)
Illinois (8-4):
- W: vs Western Illinois 52-3
- W: at Duke 45-19
- W: vs Western Michigan 38-0
- L: at No. 19 Indiana 63-10
- W: vs No. 21 Southern Cal 34-32
- W: at Purdue 43-27
- L: vs No. 1 Ohio State 34-16
- L: at Washington 42-25
- W: vs Rutgers 35-13
- W: vs Maryland 24-6
- L: at Wisconsin 27-10
- W: vs Northwestern 20-13
Tennessee Uniform
🎸 @MusicCityBowl threads
❄️❄️❄️@DICKS | #GBO 🍊 pic.twitter.com/9YueukZyDE
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) December 29, 2025
