The Latest Bowl Projection Round Up for Tennessee Football

Tennessee’s hopes of making the College Football Playoffs have been extinguished as of the Vols’ loss to unranked South Carolina on Saturday night in Columbia.

The Volunteers have still put together a remarkable season though, with wins against Florida, Alabama, and LSU, and are currently on track to make one of the premier games on the bowl schedule.

The latest round of predictions on Sunday has Tennessee trending toward a game in the Lone Star State in early January. The Vols are widely projected to be Cotton Bowl participants, where Tennessee would be taking on the top Group of Five schools, like Tulane or Coastal Carolina.

One prediction from CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm even has Tennessee taking on the UCF – which is the former team of head coach Josh Heupel.

There’s a lot that still needs to fall in place before the bowl announcements, though. Tennessee’s final game of the regular season will be this Saturday night in Nashville against a Vanderbilt team on a two-game winning streak.

More from RTI: Jeremy Banks Comments on South Carolina Game Absence with Instagram Post

Here’s a look at some of the latest bowl projections for the Tennessee Volunteers football team on Sunday:

CBS Sports – Jerry Palm

• Cotton Bowl – Jan. 2
• AT&T Stadium – Arlington, Texas
• at-large vs at-large
• Tennessee vs UCF

ESPN – Kyle Bonagura

• Orange Bowl – Dec. 30
• Hard Rock Stadium – Miami Gardens, Florida
• ACC vs. SEC/B1G/ND
• Tennessee vs Clemson
• “The Volunteers left no doubt that they did not belong in the playoff with an emphatic loss to South Carolina. Had the Vols won that game, a game against Vanderbilt was the final obstacle to a one-loss regular season, which would have been a compelling case for CFP inclusion.”

ESPN – Mark Schlabach

• Cotton Bowl – Jan. 2
• AT&T Stadium – Arlington, Texas
• at-large vs at-large
• Tennessee vs Tulane
• “The loss not only knocked the Volunteers out of the CFP, but it also put them in danger of not being selected for a New Year’s Six bowl.”

247 Sports – Brad Crawford

• Cotton Bowl – Jan. 2
• AT&T Stadium – Arlington, Texas
• at-large vs at-large
• Tennessee vs Tulane
• “Will Penn State or Tennessee squeak into the New Year’s Six at 10-2? There’s likely not enough room for both and the final selection committee rankings will dictate where these teams. Tulane moves back in the Cotton Bowl projection this week following its win over SMU and UCF falling flat against Navy at home. The Cotton Bowl is always one to watch because one team often shows up motivated and the other? Not so much.”

Pro Football Network – Oliver Hodgkison

• Cotton Bowl – Jan. 2
• AT&T Stadium – Arlington, Texas
• at-large vs at-large
• Tennessee vs Coastal Carolina
• “Tennessee continues to tumble down our College Football Top 25 after a shellacking by South Carolina, taking them out of CFP consideration and potentially the other SEC-affiliated NY6 bowls. However, their slide stops at the Cotton Bowl, where they’ll provide the at-large opponent for the best Group of Five team in the nation.”