KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 23 Tennessee will aim for a fourth consecutive nine-win campaign in a familiar Volunteer State venue. The Volunteers were selected to play in the Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl against Illinois on Dec. 30 at 5:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. CT from Nashville’s Nissan Stadium.
The game will be televised by ESPN. Tickets for the game are on sale at musiccitybowl.com.
“We appreciate the opportunity to send our seniors out with one final game in our home state in the Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl,” said Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel. “The opportunity to prepare and compete against an outstanding Big Ten opponent the caliber of Illinois is one we look forward to. Vol Nation has been unwavering in its loyalty and support of our players. It’s something we never take for granted. We are excited to go play in front of them one more time in 2025 in Nashville.”
Tennessee (8-4, 4-4 SEC) and Illinois (8-4, 5-4 Big Ten) will be meeting for the first time on the gridiron. It will be the Vols’ fourth Music City Bowl appearance. UT topped Nebraska, 38-24, in the 2016 edition of the game. The Vols dropped a 30-27 double overtime game to North Carolina in the 2010 Music City Bowl and fell, 48-45, in overtime to Purdue in Heupel’s first season of 2021.
The 2025 Vols boast the nation’s fourth-best total offense, averaging 482.0 yards per game, spearheaded by the SEC’s leading passer Joey Aguilar. The first-year Vol put up 287.0 yards per contest and eclipsed the 3,000-yard mark with 3,444 on 258-of-186 passes and 24 touchdowns. The nation’s best receiving trio of Chris Brazzell II, Braylon Staley and Mike Matthews logged over 750 receiving yards apiece.
Defensively, the Vols forced 20 turnovers, which tied for third in the SEC. They finished fourth in the conference in both sacks and tackles for loss with 36 and 82, respectively. Junior linebacker Arion Carter led the way with 76 tackles.
Tennessee was one of the nation’s youngest teams, and it ended the season with the SEC’s top freshman tackler (linebacker Edwin Spillman), top freshman receiver (Staley) and the SEC leader in passes defended (cornerback Ty Redmond). Redmond’s 13 passes defended also led all Power Four freshmen nationally.
Heupel had guided the Vols to a 45-19 record in five seasons at the helm. He is just the third coach to lead Tennessee to a bowl game in each of his first five seasons, joining Phillip Fulmer (1993-97) and Bill Battle (1970-74). Heupel’s .703 winning percentage is the second-highest by a Vol coach in the last four decades.
The 2025 Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl is Tennessee’s 57th postseason appearance and 56th NCAA bowl game. The 2020 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl win and appearance was vacated. The Vols earned a berth to the College Football Playoff last year and lost to eventual national champion Ohio State.
