A lot of potential outcomes here.
Three weeks — just three weeks remain in the college football regular season. Divisional races are shaping up, the College Football Playoff picture is unfolding, and the bowl picture is starting to become a little more clear.
Tennessee couldn’t quite get the job done on the road at Alabama, but they’ve won their last two swing games against Texas A&M and at Kentucky. They get another one this week at Missouri, which could go a long way in determining the level of bowl game Tennessee could be sent to.
Obviously, Tennessee could get back into the New Year’s Six range if they were to win out, which would mean pulling the upset against No. 2 Georgia. We’ll see what happens this week against Mizzou first.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the latest round-up of bowl projections from around the web.
Latest Tennessee Bowl Projections
ESPN (Bonagura): CITRUS: Iowa vs. Tennessee
ESPN (Schlabach): GATOR: NC State vs. Tennessee
USA Today: RELIAQUEST: Notre Dame vs. Tennessee
CBS Sports: CITRUS: Iowa vs. Tennessee
The Athletic: RELIAQUEST: Notre Dame vs. Tennessee
Fox Sports: GATOR: NC State vs. Tennessee
Sporting News: MUSIC CITY: Minnesota vs. Tennessee
Action Network: GATOR: Georgia Tech vs. Tennessee
So that’s three votes for the Gator, two for the Citrus, two for the Reliaquest (Outback) and one for the Music City — it’s all over the place.
The Citrus Bowl would be the optimal outcome here. Tennessee hasn’t played in that game since 2001, and you’d have a potentially dramatic clash of styles with a projected opponent in Iowa.
The Reliquest Bowl would be an interesting destination, especially if Notre Dame was in fact the opponent. The two schools have played just eight times all time, but never in the postseason. Tennessee last appeared in the Reliaquest Bowl back in 2016. The Volunteers haven’t faced the Fighting Irish since 2005.
All bowl matchups will be revealed on Sunday, December 3rd live on ESPN.