Tennessee Football is going with the all-white Stormtrooper threads for its Music City Bowl matchup against Illinois on Tuesday evening in Nashville. It’s the fourth time we’ve seen the all-white uniforms this season, following the Alabama game, the Kentucky game, and the Florida game. The Vols are 2-1 in this set this season.
The Vols’ uniform combination will consist of white helmets, white jerseys, white pants, white cleats, and black gloves. The jerseys will also have a large yellow Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl patch on the right shoulder, right next to the orange collar. Illinois, meanwhile, will be going with the all-navy look in Nashville on Tuesday. For two teams that have an orange primary team logo, there won’t be a ton of orange in this year’s Music City Bowl.
🎸 @MusicCityBowl threads
❄️❄️❄️@DICKS | #GBO 🍊 pic.twitter.com/9YueukZyDE
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) December 29, 2025
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It’s no surprise to see the Vols in their road white jerseys. That was the expectation, considering the home and away teams trade off every other year. The SEC team is designated as the home team in even years, while the Big Ten team gets the home nod in odd years. Last year’s MCB contest saw Missouri wear all-black uniforms in a win over Iowa, which wore white-on-yellow uniforms.
The news on Sunday also confirms that 2025 won’t see the Vols’ white-on-orange road combination.
Here’s a look at what uniform combinations the Vols have used this season:
- Week 1 (vs Syracuse in Atlanta): Orange-and-White
- Week 2 (vs ETSU in Knoxville): Orange-and-White
- Week 3 (vs Georgia in Knoxville): Orange-and-White
- Week 4 (vs UAB in Knoxville): All-Orange
- Week 5 (at Mississippi State in Starkville): All-Orange
- Week 6 (BYE)
- Week 7 (vs Arkansas in Knoxville): Orange-and-White
- Week 8 (at Alabama in Tuscaloosa): All-White
- Week 9 (at Kentucky in Lexington): All-White
- Week 10 (vs Oklahoma): Dark-Mode
- Week 11 (BYE)
- Week 12 (vs New Mexico State): Smokey Grey
- Week 13 (at Florida): All-White
- Week 14 (vs Vanderbilt): Orange-and-White
- Music City Bowl (vs Illinois): All-White
Including Tuesday’s bowl game, Tennessee used five uniform combinations throughout the year: Orange-and-White (x5), All-White (x4), All-Orange (x2), Dark Mode (x1), and Smokey Grey (x1).
When the bowl matchup was first announced at the beginning of December, the Vols opened as a big 6.5-point favorite over the Fighting Illini. That line has heavily shifted in favor of Illinois in the last few weeks, though. With just a couple of days until the game, Tennessee still sits as the favorite, but the line is down to points.
Tuesday’s Music City Bowl will feature a clash of 8-4 teams as Tennessee and Illinois both look to cap off their 2025 campaign with a non-conference win in Nissan Stadium.
“It’s an opportunity through the month of December to continue to grow, get better,” Tennessee HC Josh Heupel said on Friday. “Fundamentals, technique inside of a scheme. Bowl games, young guys get a lot of opportunity in the preparation, but also on game day too. And obviously it’s the last chance for us to compete, this team together, in this ‘25 season. In some ways it’s the build up to the following year.”
Tennessee and Illinois will face off in the Music City Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 30, in Nashville’s Nissan Stadium. The game will be played at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee Football coverage.
