Illinois will play in a bowl game in consecutive years for the first time since 2010-2011 when they travel to Nashville for the Music City Bowl on December 30.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

December 7, 2025

For the first time in program history, Illinois will be playing a bowl game in Nashville.

Illinois has accepted a bowl bid to the 2025 Music City Bowl where the Illini will play Tennessee on Dec. 30 (4:30 p.m. CST, ESPN) in a first-time matchup between two power conference power programs. The game will be played at Nissan Stadium, home of the National Football League’s Tennessee Titans, which is located on the east bank of the Cumberland River, across the river from downtown Nashville. Illinois has never played a football game in Nashville, which is the fourth-most populous city in the Southeast and has never played the Volunteers in the 135-year history of the Illini football program.

The matchup will mark the third bowl game in a row in which the Illini take on a team from the Southeastern Conference. Illinois lost to Mississippi State in the 2023 ReliaQuest Bowl and defeated South Carolina in the 2024 Citrus Bowl.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming fans from the Big Ten and SEC back to Nashville and showcasing the city on national television,” Scott Ramsey, President/CEO of the Music City Bowl, said. “For the past 27 years, our game has featured unforgettable moments and experiences for traveling fanbases against the backdrop of our vibrant city, and we are confident that this year will be no different.”

lllinois tied the program record for wins during a two-year period with its 18th victory between the 2024 and 2025 seasons. It is the fourth time Illinois has won 18 games over a two-year period, joining 1989-90, 1902-03, and 1901-02.

Illinois has produced at least eight wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1989-90. The Illini will be looking to win this bowl game so fifth-year head coach Bret Bielema can produce back-to-back seasons of at least nine wins in program history. Illinois has eight wins three times in a four-year span for the first time since accomplishing the feat four straight years from 1901-04. Illinois won 23 Big Ten games in Bret Bielema's first five seasons at Illinois. It is Illinois' most Big Ten wins in a five-year period since also winning 23 Big Ten games from 1990-94. Illinois has 36 wins over the last five seasons, tied for its most wins over a five-year period since winning 37 games from 1981-85.

Tennessee (8-4) will be arriving in a bowl game in its home state just 180 miles from its Knoxville campus after dropping a 45-24 contest to Vanderbilt to close out the regular season. Three of Tennessee's losses this season have come against teams that were ranked in Top 10 of the Associated Press poll - vs. No. 4 Georgia (in overtime), vs. No. 8 Oklahoma and at No. 10 Alabama. Tennessee is seeking a fourth straight nine-win season for the first time since doing it in five straight from 1995-99. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel is coaching his 101st game as a head coach (UCF and Tennessee). Since 2018, he ranks sixth nationally among active Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches in wins with 73 and his .714 win percentage at Tennessee is the second-highest by a Volunteers coach in the last four decades, trailing only Phillip Fulmer's .745 in that span. Heupel is just the third coach to lead Tennessee to bowl eligibility in each of his first five seasons, joining Fulmer (1993-97) and Bill Battle (1970-74). He is seeking his sixth nine-win season in eight years as a head coach and his fourth straight at Tennessee. Heupel is attempting to join Kirby Smart (Georgia) and Kalen DeBoer (Washington, Alabama) as the only current Southeastern Conference head coaches to produce four straight nine-win seasons from 2022 to present.

This will be the fourth time the Volunteers will be playing in the Music City Bowl as they lost in double overtime to North Carolina in 2010, defeated Nebraska in 2016 and lost to Purdue in overtime in 2021.

Bielema has obviously faced Tennessee as the former Arkansas head coach in his past and has also done so in a bowl game. Bielema’s 2007 Wisconsin team lost to Tennessee 21-17 on New Year’s Day 2008 in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla. Bielema’s 2015 Arkansas team defeated Tennessee 24-20 in Neyland Stadium in Bielema’s only matchup against the Volunteers in his five seasons as a head coach in the SEC.

The matchup of the Illini and Volunteers will come nearly three weeks after both schools played a non-conference men’s basketball game in the Music City Madness on Saturday night. No. 14 Illinois walked away from Bridgestone Arena with a 75-62 victory over No. 13 Tennessee.