The Vols put forth an ugly and uninspired effort on Saturday to pull out a 17-13 win against UMass, and they opened up as substantial underdogs against No. 7 Georgia this upcoming weekend.
But despite all that and a tough road ahead, analysts at ESPN are showing faith in the Vols that they won’t completely fly off the rails and will still make a bowl game. It just won’t be a bowl game most Tennessee fans want.
According to projections from Kyle Bonagura and David Hale of ESPN, the Vols will either return to a bowl they played in a few years ago, or they’ll be staying in-state for a bowl game for the second consecutive year.
Bonagura has Tennessee taking on Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. That bowl game would likely be dubbed the “John Currie Bowl” since he was the athletic director at Kansas State before taking the same job at Tennessee. The two teams also share a common opponent this season. The Wildcats lost 14-7 to Vanderbilt in Week 3 while the Vols will close out their regular season playing host to the Commodores.
Hale predicts the Vols will play N.C. State in the Taxslayer Bowl, a bowl that the Vols played in just a few years ago after the 2014 season. Tennessee hasn’t played N.C. State since the season opener in Atlanta in 2012, which the Vols win 35-21 in Derek Dooley’s last year.
One thing that stands out about both projections is that neither team the Vols are predicted to play against are from the Big 10. This would mark the first time in the Butch Jones era that Tennessee has played an opponent outside the Big 10 in a bowl game if either of those projections come true.
The Vols have plenty of tough tests ahead of them on their SEC schedule, but six or seven wins is still highly likely for this team. But a record like that won’t get the Vols into a good bowl game, and it would turn up the heat on the coaching staff as well.
