On3's Brett McMurphy updates Tennessee football's bowl projection after spring practice

On3’s Brett McMurphy doesn’t have Tennessee as a College Football Playoff team next season. Instead, his post-spring practice bowl projections on Wednesday has the Vols in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville against SMU.

Tennessee is coming off an 8-5 season that ended with a 30-28 loss to Illinois in the Music City Bowl in Nashville in December. 

The Vols haven’t been to the Gator Bowl since 2020 against Indiana. They beat Iowa in the Gator Bowl in 2015 and beat Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl in 1994, which was played at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville. 

Tennessee has faced SMU just one time, beating the Mustangs 28-3 at Neyland Stadium on September 19, 1970.

McMurphy has Miami in the Peach Bowl as his No. 1 seed in the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket, ahead of No. 2 Ohio State (Rose Bowl), No. 3 Notre Dame (Fiesta Bowl) and No. 4 Georgia (Cotton Bowl). 

His first-round matchups are No. 12 North Dakota State at No. 5 Oregon, No. 9 Texas Tech at No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 11 Penn State at No. 6 Texas and No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 7 Indiana. 

Tennessee’s bowl game history under Josh Heupel

Tennessee is 2-2 in four bowl games under head coach Josh Heupel. 

The Vols lost to Purdue in overtime in the Music City Bowl in 2021, beat Clemson 31-14 in the Orange Bowl to cap an 11-win season in 2022 and beat Iowa 35-0 in the Citrus Bowl to end the 2023 season, before the loss to Illinois in December.

Heupel took Tennessee to the College Football Playoffs in as the No. 9 seed, losing at No. 8 Ohio State with the Buckeyes starting their run to the national championship. 

Tennessee plays four of first five games at home

Tennessee opens the season at home against Furman on September 5, plays Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta on September 12 and is back home against Kennesaw State on September 19. 

The SEC schedule starts with three of four games at home, against Texas (September 26), Auburn (October 3) and Alabama (October 10). Tennessee plays on the road at Arkansas (October 10), South Carolina (October 24), Texas A&M (November 14) and Vanderbilt (November 28). The SEC home games for the Vols are against Kentucky (November 7) and LSU (November 21). 

The 2026 season will be Tennessee’s first schedule without both Georgia and Florida since 1992.