Conflicting reports on Tennessee’s bowl destination

UPDATE: 4:30 ET

Now official — Tennessee is heading to the Gator Bowl. More here.

UPDATE: 4:15 ET

Everything has changed, apparently.

Original Report

After nearly every bowl projection placed Tennessee in a Florida postseason matchup, the Volunteers have landed in the Music City Bowl. Tennessee last played in this game back in 2016, blowing out Nebraska.

Their opponent this time around will be the Louisville Cardinals.

Tennessee is looking for win No. 8 on the season after storming back from an 0-2 start. The Vols dropped games against Georgia State and BYU, but rebounded, winning six of seven games down the stretch.

Louisville also finished at 7-5, turning things around in year one under new coach Scott Satterfield. The Cardinals picked up big wins during the year over Virginia and Wake Forest, but their season ended on a sour note as they were blown out by Kentucky. Louisville ended up finishing second in a wildly weak ACC Atlantic division.

On paper, this is a favorable matchup for Tennessee. Louisville sits 57th in ESPN’s FPI and 62nd in S&P+. Tennessee ranks 32nd and 31st, respectively, to compare. You can probably expect the Volunteers to be favored in this one by the people in the desert.

Tennessee has faced Satterfield before, narrowly escaping his App State squad to open the 2016 season. It took overtime, but Tennessee came out on top 20-13.

It will be Tennessee’s third trip to the Music City Bowl, where they are 1-1 in two attempts. We’ve already mentioned the win over Nebraska, but they dropped a wild game against North Carolina back in 2010.

Much more on this matchup to come later.

The Music City Bowl will be played on December 30th at 4 p.m. ET and carried live by ESPN.