Tennessee’s path through the postseason picture is still being drawn, and ESPN’s latest bowl projections keep the Vols in the same spot while splitting on who they’d meet there.
Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach both pegged Tennessee for the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Fla., on New Year’s Eve. The game, played at Raymond James Stadium, is the one many fans still remember as the Outback Bowl before the naming rights changed ahead of the 2023 season.
Tennessee’s last trip to that bowl ended in a lopsided 45-6 win over No. 12 Northwestern to finish the 2015 season.
Where the two ESPN analysts diverged was on the matchup. Bonagura projected Nebraska, while Schlabach landed on Michigan.
Nebraska comes in at 4-0, with wins over Ohio, Bowling Green, North Dakota and at Michigan State. The Cornhuskers are not in the AP Top 25, but they do have four ranked games remaining, including Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State and Iowa.
Schlabach’s pick would send Tennessee against a Michigan team that has already lived through plenty of drama. The Wolverines are 3-1 after opening with the well-known Western Michigan game and then suffering a last-second loss to Iowa in The Big House on Saturday. Michigan is unranked, but it does own a non-conference win over Oklahoma and still has Indiana, Oregon, UCLA and Ohio State ahead on the schedule.
Tennessee, meanwhile, sits at 3-1 after wins over Furman, Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State, plus last Saturday’s first loss of the season against No. 1 Texas in Neyland Stadium. The Vols get back on the field Saturday afternoon against Auburn in Neyland Stadium.
For now, Tennessee remains on the outside of the playoff conversation, but the numbers haven’t moved much after the Texas loss. ESPN’s Football Power Index has the Vols at 22%, essentially where they began the season.
The defeat to the top-ranked Longhorns didn’t knock Tennessee out of the mix, but the performance made clear there’s work to be done if the Vols want to stay in the hunt when November arrives. Ranked games against Alabama, Kentucky and LSU are still ahead.
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