Tennessee football: Playing Indiana in Gator Bowl complicates Vols top 25 chances
A top 25 finish is possible for Tennessee football. But playing the Indiana Hoosiers in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl complicates that path for the Volunteers.
Despite being just 7-5, a top 25 finish is certainly on the table for Tennessee football if things break right during bowl season. Of course, they would have to make sure they won their bowl game. But pulling that off and having a few other teams win could result in Jeremy Pruitt’s second team finishing ranked.
However, playing the Indiana Hoosiers complicates that a bit. Indiana has a better regular season record than any Power Five team the Vols beat this year. But they are only 8-4, they haven’t beaten a team with a winning record, and they are unranked.
In fact, they are only receiving votes in one of the polls. Now, the good news for Tennessee football is that in that poll, the Coaches Poll, the Vols are also receiving votes, and Indiana is receiving more votes. So beating them would certainly knock one team out of UT’s way en route to trying to reach the top 25.
But will it be enough? Numerous teams ranked ahead of them have higher ranked bowl opponents, and there’s a very good chance that even with a win, the Vols don’t jump those other teams. After all, losing to those highly ranked opponents or ranked opponents in general could sometimes look more impressive than scoring a win over Indiana would.
Each of the last two Gator Bowls featured at least one team in the top 25. Of the 74 previous Gator Bowls played, at least one team was ranked in 65 of those matchups. That includes a period from 1967 to 2008 in which at least one team was ranked every single year.
In fact, that streak began one year after the Vols faced Syracuse, one of the rare occurrences both teams were unranked. UT was in another one of the Gator Bowls in which both teams were unranked as well, back at the end of the 2014 season, when it was called the TaxSlayer Bowl. They blew out the Iowa Hawkeyes that year.
So as this year marks only the 10th time the Gator Bowl features two unranked teams, it’s the third time the Vols are part of such a game. And it’s a rough draw for them as well with a top 25 finish firmly on the table.
Of course, the setup of the Gator Bowl nowadays means that teams in it are fringe top 25 teams. Last year, the Texas A&M Aggies were No. 21, and the year before that, the Mississippi State Bulldogs were No. 24. In fact, the last time a non-SEC team that went to the Gator Bowl was in the top 25 was 2013, when the No. 21 ranked Northwestern Wildcats faced Mississippi State.
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That doesn’t help Tennessee football, though. The Vols, in hopes of finishing in the top 25, could have used a top 25 opponent for a couple of reasons. Yes, it gives them more of a quality win. But on top of that, it gives them a clear opponent to leapfrog in both polls.
If the ACC were not so bad the Virginia Cavaliers could have been that team. After all, UVA is a nine-win team ranked No. 25 in the Coaches Poll and two spots out of the AP Poll top 25, giving UT a great chance to jump ahead of somebody.
But UVA securing an invite to a New Years Six bowl took out any chance at a decent opponent from that conference going. That left the Big Ten, and there are too many higher-ranked teams deserving of more prestigious bowl games and bowl opponents. As a result, Indiana ended up there, and it was the right move.
Right now, the Vols can only leapfrog Indiana in the Coaches Poll, and the Hoosiers not being in the Top 25 hurts their chances at proving they made a statement win. So yes, Indiana as an opponent complicates things.
Next. Gator Bowl: Five facts about Vols vs. Indiana. dark
More importantly, though, is the fact that UT needs to win the game. They shouldn’t focus on these things. A bowl win is a bowl win. And it will still mean a lot for the program going forward, as it will get them to an 8-5 finish. Also, it hasn’t eliminated the possibility of a top 25 finish. So there’s no reason not to be excited about the chance to win this game.