CFB Bowl Preview 2025: Music City Bowl
By George Somerville
Bowl season is in full swing and we will be previewing some of the bigger matchups over the next couple of weeks. This year’s Music City Bowl will be contested between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Illinois Fighting Illini. George takes a look at the key matchups.
Where and When
The Tennessee Volunteers take on the Illinois Fighting Illini in the Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee on Tuesday 30th at 4.30pm CT/10.30pm UK. The game is being broadcast by ESPN, and in the UK you can watch on DAZN Sports.
Story So Far...
The Music City Bowl is the annual bowl match-up between invitees from the BIG10 and SEC and has been played since 1998. Previously, the Bowl game rotated invitees from the BIG10, SEC and ACC.
This Bowl game has a history of shock results, and over the years, teams from the SEC have not fared well. Could this be a bad omen for Big Orange?
Tennessee and Illinois formed football teams within one year of each other back at the start of the 1890’s. So what is incredible is that 135 years later, these two teams will face each other for the first time in their histories. In fact, this is the first time that Illinois will play in the Music City Bowl.
Both teams’ seasons promised much early on, but both ultimately fell short of Playoff contention, falling to 8-4 records.
Falling only to Indiana early in the season, Illinois raced to a 5-1 record, prompting commentators to take notice. The Fighting Illini were tipped as early Playoff contenders. However, defeats to Ohio State, Washington and Wisconsin ended their hopes of advancing to the postseason.
Due South in Tennessee, the Vols had an equally frustrating season. Tennessee’s first defeat came in week 3, an overtime loss to Georgia; this defeat was seen as a sign that the Vols could keep pace with the Conference Big Dawgs. However, like their Bowl counterparts, subsequent defeats to Alabama, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt put paid to a postseason run and placed Head Coach Josh Heupel under some pressure. With Tennessee fans expected to fill Nissan Stadium, expectations are for Heupel to win the Bowl game on what is effectively home territory and take the Vols to a 9-win season.
The Quarterbacks
TENNESSEE: JOEY AGUILAR
Tennessee was thrown into chaos back in April when QB1 Nico Iamaleava decided to transfer, eventually ending up at UCLA. Having to move swiftly, Josh Heupel brought in Joey Aguilar from App State. Seen by many as a downgrade from Iamaleava, Aguilar has proved the doubters wrong with Vol Nation quickly forgetting about the Iamaleava debacle pre-season.
In what is considered a disappointing season in Knoxville, Aguilar has been a star. Aguilar led the SEC with 3,444 passing yards with 24 touchdowns. This brings Aguilar’s Division I total passing yards to 10,204, including his two seasons at App State.
ILLINOIS: LUKE ALTMYER
At one stage, it was hotly tipped that Altmyer may enter the transfer portal to return South to Tennessee. Altmyer had transferred from Ole Miss, North to Illinois in 2022. However, he stayed in Champaign for his final year of eligibility. Altmyer’s time at Illinois has been successful, and he leaves one of the Illini’s best-ever QBs. In 2025, he threw for 2,811 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and five interceptions. In two seasons at Ole Miss and three at Illinois, Altmyer has accumulated 7,728 passing yards. Despite likely preparing for the 2026 Draft, Altmyer has committed to playing in the Music City Bowl.
Who to Watch
Illinois: Ca’Lil Valentine, Running Back
Illinois successful season has been built on a strong run game. To date, the team has recorded 1,574 yards on the ground and 20 Touchdowns for the season so far, averaging 131.2 rushing yards per game. Key to this success has been Ca’Lil Valentine, who has led the team with 123 carries for 549 yards and four scores. The Vols defense – much depleted by dropouts for this game – will have their hands full with the Illinois run game.
Tennessee: Braylon Staley: Wide Receiver
With star wide receiver Chris Brazzell opting out of this game after declaring for the NFL Draft, Tennessee will look to Braylon Staley as their #1 receiver. Despite Brazzell’s outstanding season, Staley has still managed to record 64 receptions for 806 yards and six touchdowns. Staley will be a big target for Aguilar as the Vols look to win this bowl game.
Prediction
This is a challenging game to predict. If both teams were still playing to their mid-season form, this would likely be a doozy of a game. In fact, mid-season, both teams were predicted to be Playoff teams, so in a parallel universe, this could have been one of the quarter-final match-ups. However form deserted both teams and the consolation is a bowl game in Nashville.
This is yet another bowl game impacted by opt-outs, as players either enter the transfer portal or declare for the draft. This means that the talent on show will likely be restricted to those expected to stay on campus until next year.
However, with both Aguilar and Altmyer on show, there should be some fireworks for those who make the trip to Nashville.
With Vols fans expected to travel the short distance from Knoxville en masse to fill Nissan Stadium, this could be the difference maker. Expect a tight game, but ultimately the Vols will prevail and give Josh Heupel some breathing space to build his new team for Spring football.
Final score: Vols 34 – Illinois 31
George Somerville
COLLEGE FOOTBALL ANALYST
GEORGE IS A LONG STANDING FANATIC OF LIFE AND FOOTBALL IN THE DEEP SOUTH AND WRITES HIS WEEKLY COLUMN CALLED “IT’S ONLY SEC” FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. HE IS ALSO CO-HOST AND ONE THIRD OF THE COLLEGE CHAPS PODCAST, THE UK’S FIRST PODCAST DEDICATED TO THE COLLEGE GAME.