Too early to start looking at where Tennessee might play in the postseason? Never.
National bowl projections are beginning to roll out as the season approaches the halfway mark and with a general better idea of what kind of record range UT is looking at in 2015, several media outlets are coming out with bowl projections.
We’ll keep regular tabs on these projections and throw in our own thoughts as the rest of the season unfolds.
ESPN (McMurphy): Birmingham Bowl vs. East Carolina
ESPN (Schlabach): Belk Bowl: North Carolina vs. Tennessee
CBS: (Palm): Liberty Bowl vs. Kansas State
Sporting News (Bender): Texas Bowl vs. West Virginia
SBNation (Kirk): Belk Bowl vs. Duke
RTI’s take: While the win over Georgia may not be enough to put UT legitimately back in the SEC East hunt at this point, it certainly helped future bowl prospects. It upped UT’s win projection to the 7-8 range at this point, giving UT another solid chance of landing in the “Pool of Six” bowl conversation (TaxSlayer, Liberty, Music City, Belk, Texas and Outback) and avoiding the dreaded bottom two of Birmingham and Independence. There’s still a lot to play out. A win over Alabama would certainly change the discussion, while a loss there and a couple unexpected losses down the stretch could certainly put UT in a bad spot too. For now, especially if UT is able to get to seven wins, landing in that pool with a destination such as the Belk Bowl, makes the most sense overall.
