NCAA Football
2025-12-30 - Tennessee Volunteers at Illinois Fighting Illini
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : College Football Music City Bowl
Tuesday 30th December 2025 - Scheduled 5:30pm
10:30pm (British Time)
Preview
A Bowl Game between the Big Ten and SEC will give the players some motivation, but it would have been a different story if this was part of the College Football Playoff. Instead, both the Tennessee Volunteers (8-4) and Illinois Fighting Illini (8-4) have ended up coming short of their main ambitions for the 2025 season and that means some players have decided to skip the Bowl and prepare for the next stage of their career.
However, the good news is that both starting Quarter Backs are expected to play and it should mean a good game.
The Illinois Fighting Illini do feel like a team who are much more reliant on Luke Altmyer at Quarter Back considering the struggles of the Offensive Line to help establish the run. While there were signs the Volunteers were wearing down as the season came to a close, Tennessee will also feel the Illinois Offensive Line is not up to the same standard as those they face in the SEC and they can force Luke Altmyer to beat them with his arm.
Luke Altmyer will feel he can have some success doing that, although having a new Left Tackle being blooded in for the Bowl Game is not ideal.
Tennessee will feel they can get some pressure up front, which will aid the Secondary, and the Volunteers will be looking to at least stall some of the Illinois drives in what is expected to be a back and forth contest.
There may have been some concern for the Volunteers that their own Quarter Back would choose to miss the Bowl Game, but Joey Aguilar is looking to motivate his team mates having also been pretty clear that Tennessee had begun this season with big expectations to return to the Playoff and they have ultimately fallen short.
A number of players have withdrawn before the Bowl Game, but the Volunteers should still find their superior talent coming to the fore against an Illinois Defensive unit that did struggle against the better teams in the Big Ten.
The performance of the Defense picked up in the final four games of the regular season, but the Fighting Illini did not play an opponent with a winning record in the Big Ten in that run. Prior to that, the team had given up big points in losses to the Ohio State Buckeyes and Washington Huskies and this Volunteers team will look to win at the Line of Scrimmage and make sure Joey Aguilar is operating out of third and manageable spots on the field.
Illinois have a Secondary that have had some struggles and that is where the Volunteers can earn the edge in what should be a decent watch, even if both teams will look back at 2025 as a missed opportunity as far as the College Football Playoff is concerned.
Prediction
Lay the points with the narrow favourite.
The Pick :
Illinois Fighting Illini 27-30 Tennessee Volunteer
