With its regular season finale against Vanderbilt looming, the postseason picture is becoming clearer for Tennessee.
The No. 21 Vols are coming off of back-to-back losses—their most recent outing a 38-10 defeat at the hands of top-ranked Georgia at Neyland Stadium last Saturday.
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Tennessee (7-4, 3-4 SEC) entered that matchup with a number of potential bowl options, but the loss coupled with the expectation that it will win its eighth game vs. Vanderbilt (2-9, 0-7), has left a little less diversity in where the Vols could end up.
Even before the season began, Tennessee was projected to play in Florida with the most popular pick being a Big Ten/SEC clash in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
That has changed in the last week.
Here is a look at where the Vols currently stand in the latest bowl projections.
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
Date: Dec. 29 | 2:00 p.m. ET
Location: TIAA Bank Field | Jacksonville, Florida
Affiliations: ACC vs. SEC
Projector: Yahoo! Sports CBS Sports, Action Network, The Athletic USA TODAY Sports, ESPN, Athlon Sports
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Tennessee to Jacksonville is trending heavily. Most projections have the Vols facing an ACC team in the Gator Bowl with CBS Sports, Action Network, The Athletic and ESPN's Mark Schlabach among others pitting Tennessee against North Carolina. A few outlets have picked the Vols to play NC State, but Tennessee is already scheduled to face the Wolfpack in the Duke's Mayo Kickoff Classic in Charlotte in week 2 next season. Yahoo! Sports projects a Tennessee-Miami matchup.
North Carolina may be the more intriguing of the potential opponents. The Tar Heels are currently 8-3 but have lost three of their last five games since starting the season 6-0. Quarterback Drake Maye, a projected first round NFL Draft pick, ranks top 10 nationally in passing with 311.6 yards per game, though there are rumblings that he may opt out of the bowl game. North Carolina plays at NC State on Saturday in a game that could possibly decide who gets the Gator Bowl spot.
Tennessee last played in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 2, 2020, coming from behind to beat Indiana, 23-22 to finish its 2019 campaign 8-5. A number of current Vols players were on that team.
TransPerfect Music City Bowl
Date: Dec. 30
Location: Nissan Stadium | Nashville
Affiliations: Big Ten/SEC
Projector: College Football News
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It's not completely out of the realm of possibility that Tennessee could end up in a familiar location at the end of December, depending on Saturday's result vs. Vanderbilt. Though the Music City Bowl hasn't exactly been a popular pick, at least one outlet has the Vols finishing their season where it started.
College Football News projects Tennessee to play Wisconsin at Nissan Stadium, nearly three months after it opened the season there against Virginia. Despite its proximity to Knoxville, Tennessee isn't likely to lobby for the bowl if it is an option.
The Vols played in the Music City Bowl in 2021, which resulted in a controversial overtime loss to Purdue to bookend Josh Heupel's first season.
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