Latest ESPN bowl projection has Tennessee getting an advanced scouting look at a team on their 2026 schedule
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The Tennessee Vols fell on their faces to end their regular season, losing to the Vanderbilt Commodores in embarrassing fashion 45-24 to wrap up an 8-4 season.
The loss will undoubtedly take the Vols out of contention for the SEC’s top non-playoff bowl – the Citrus Bowl – as there are other teams with better records than the Vols who will likely not make the playoff. Case in point, those same Vanderbilt Commodores and the Texas Longhorns.
However, ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura sees a potential opportunity for the Vols to get an early look at one of their 2026 non-conference opponents, and vice versa. Bonagura projects the Vols to face Georgia Tech on December 27 in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville.
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura projects Tennessee to play Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl
The Vols and Yellow Jackets are scheduled for a home-and-home series in 2026 and 2027. The game next season on September 12, 2026 will take place at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta with the return match next season at Neyland Stadium.
Tech won’t exactly look the same next season in one respect, as starting quarterback is out of eligibility after this season and won’t be back. Neither will Joey Aguilar for the Vols, absent a court ruling in the Diego Pavia lawsuit to extend his eligibility. So the teams will be different in some important respects next year.
But there will still be plenty of returning players with the coaching staffs likely remaining largely the same.
So, if that projection were to take place, there would be a lot to digest and learn about the Yellow Jackets nine months before the teams played a more meaningful game early in the 2026 regular season.
We’ll find out the Vols’ bowl destination soon enough, as selection Sunday is just one week away for the College Football Playoff, after which the rest of the bowl lineups will shake out accordingly.
This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Dec 1, 2025, where it first appeared in the Nashville section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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