All signs point to the Tennessee Volunteers coming to the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl for the second time in five years.
The Vols’ 38-10 crushing at the hands of top-ranked Georgia on Saturday was the second loss of that nature in two weeks (following a 36-7 setback to Missouri) and knocked UT out of any consideration for a New Year’s Six bowl game.
Deal renewed:Gator Bowl, TaxSlayer, renews title sponsorship agreement through 2027
If Tennessee rebounds at home against Vanderbilt this week, it will finish with an 8-4 record and would be a natural fit for the Gator Bowl (Dec. 29, Noon, ESPN). The Volunteers played in the 2019 game and edged Indiana 23-22.
Vols fans turned out in large numbers and the attendance of 61,789 was the largest in nine years. That attendance was the most until last season when the game was close to a sell-out for Notre Dame’s 45-38 victory over South Carolina.
The Gator Bowl matches a team from the SEC vs. ACC. The conferences, in cooperation with TV networks, the bowls and the teams, slot the games after the College Football Playoff picks its four teams and the remaining New Year’s Six games are decided.
The focus on Tennessee has sharpened among the national media in their bowl projections. In a survey of seven projections entering the final week, six picked Tennessee.
The Vols have been to the Music City Bowl in Nashville twice since 2016, which would likely eliminate that as a possibility.
Gator Bowl President Greg McGarity said that comes with a caveat: if Ole Miss (9-2) beats Mississippi State decisively, it could give the SEC four teams in the CFP and New Year’s Six, possibly sending the Vols to the Citrus Bowl.
That might send LSU (8-3) to Jacksonville for the first time since 1987 but the Tiger may lobby for the Reliaquest Bowl in Tampa — leaving the Gator Bowl with either Kentucky (6-5) or Texas A&M (7-4).
The most favored opponent by the Gator Bowl committee would be North Carolina (8-3), which hasn’t played in…
Read the full article here
