ESPN writer offers prediction for Music City Bowl that's in line with Tennessee's 2025 season
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The Tennessee Volunteers‘ offense was a memorable one this year for the Big Orange faithful. The unit was the top scoring offense in the SEC and one of the best in the country. QB Joey Aguilar, picked up in the de facto “trade” with UCLA in the wake of Nico Iamaleava’s departure last spring, led the SEC in passing yards during the regular season and helped jump start a Tennessee passing attack that had been stuck in the mud for the last two seasons.
Unfortunately, Tennessee’s defense was a disaster just one season after being one of the nation’s best, and the Vols stumbled to an 8-4 mark. The most memorable of those losses came in a 44-41 defeat against the Georgia Bulldogs where Tennessee’s Max Gilbert missed a 43-yard field goal to win it. It was Tennessee’s season personified – an offense geared up to hit the big play, but a defense unable to keep teams from answering back.
If one expert is right, the Vols’ bowl game could be another high scoring affair. However, ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg sees this game going Tennessee’s way.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg predicts Tennessee to beat Illinois in a high-scoring Music City Bowl
This is how Rittenberg says he sees the game playing out:
“There will be plenty of orange in Nissan Stadium, although much of it won’t be cheering for Illinois, which caps a season that began with CFP hopes, was sidetracked sharply with a 53-point loss at Indiana but still ended with wins in three of the final four regular-season contests. Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer started his career in the SEC at Ole Miss and can finish it against an SEC opponent in Tennessee, which pursued him as a transfer target this spring after Nico Iamaleava’s exit to UCLA. The Vols never really recovered from their early loss to Georgia and have much to sort out on defense, which ranks 91st nationally in points allowed. Expect a lot of scoring in this one, but Tennessee prevails behind quarterback Joey Aguilar.” – Adam Rittenberg, ESPN.com
Bowl games are hard to figure out, because teams typically have a number of players opt out of the bowl games for either the NFL or the transfer portal. Tennessee is no different, with five players opting out in favor of the NFL Draft. However, only one of those NFL opt outs – WR Chris Brazzell II – is on the offensive side of the ball, so Tennessee’s offense is still in position to produce against a defense that, frankly, has been awful at times this season. Of course, the Vols’ defense is now going to be without a number of standouts of their own in EDGE Joshua Josephs, LB Arion Carter, and CB Colton Hood.
We’ll find out soon enough how this one plays out, with toe meeting leather in under 48 hours.
This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Dec 29, 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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