After an 8-4 regular season slate, the Tennessee Volunteers are officially going bowling in a familiar location. The Volunteers will square off against the Illinois Fighting Illini in the Music City Bowl from Nashville, TN, on Dec. 30 in Nissan Stadium.
The Illini reached the postseason with an 8-4 record themselves. Illinois faced three ranked teams on the season, beating No. 19 Southern California on Sept. 27, and losing to No. 19 Indiana and No. 1 Ohio State on Sept. 20 and Oct. 11, respectively.
Illinois began the season with three straight wins over Western Illinois, eventual ACC Champion Duke, and Western Michigan. The Fighting Illini went into Raleigh to take down the Blue Devils on their own turf in the second week of the season.
The team then lost to Indiana in a blowout affair. The Hoosiers took care of business, 63-10, to hand the Illini their first loss of the season. Illinois would bounce back, though, with two straight wins against Southern Cal and Purdue in back-to-back weeks.
Following those wins, Illinois then went on to lose two straight games. The Illini lost a home game to Ohio State and a road game at Washington, with a bye week in between, to close down the month of October.
Illinois would rally, though, going 2-0 over the next two weeks with wins over Rutgers and Maryland. The Illini then lost a road game at Wisconsin and won a home game against Northwestern to close down the season and get to 8-4.
More From RTI: Why There Could Be Beef Between Illinois HC Bret Bielema And Tennessee
The Fighting Illini are led by head coach Bret Bielema, who is in his first season with the program. Bielema has put together a strong stretch in Champaign. After a 5-7 season in his first year in 2021, Bielema’s team has rattled off an 8-win season, a 5-win season, a 10-win season, and currently has eight wins this season.
Bielema is looking to make Illinois history against Tennessee in the Music City Bowl. According to Illinois Athletics, Bielema is looking to become the first Illini coach in Illinois history to win 9+ games twice during a tenure. He can climb that mountain with a win over the Volunteers on Dec. 30.
In total, Bielema has a 36-26 record in his five seasons with the Illini. In comparison, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel has a 45-19 record in his five seasons with the Volunteers. Heupel has led Tennessee to a 7-win season, an 11-win season, a 9-win season, a 10-win season, and currently has eight wins this year.
According to DraftKings, Tennessee has opened as a -6.5 point favorite over Illinois. There’s a lot of time for that line to potentially change over the next three weeks, so it’ll definitely be something to keep an eye on moving forward.
Tennessee and Illinois will meet in the 2025 Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 at 5:30 p.m. ET in Nashville, TN. The game will be played in Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for complete Tennessee football coverage through the bowl season.
