Tennessee’s 2025 Football Schedule Faces Unexpected Challenges: Five Opponents Eyeing No Bowl Games—What It Means for Volunteers

Five teams on Tennessee’s 2025 football schedule are not projected to play in a bowl game: Mississippi State, New Mexico State, UAB, Syracuse and Vanderbilt.Fifth-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, along with student-athletes Arion Carter, Miles Kitselman and Bryson Eason, will represent the Vols at SEC media days.As the summer sun begins to set on another idle offseason, the 2025 college football season is quietly revving up, with the unofficial kickoff slated for July 14-17 at the iconic Omni Atlanta Hotel and the revered College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia. There’s a tangible buzz building around the Tennessee Volunteers, led by fifth-year head coach Josh Heupel, who—alongside standout players Arion Carter, Miles Kitselman, and Bryson Eason—is set to be front and center at SEC media days. The Volunteers’ schedule is already shaping into a stern test, starting with a nonconference battle against Syracuse on August 30, a game that ABC will broadcast live at noon EDT. What’s truly captivating about Tennessee’s 2025 run is not just the opponents lined up—Georgia, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Florida among them—but also the intriguing mix of bowl eligibility projections that ESPN’s Football Power Index has just released, revealing surprising insights into who might rise and who likely won’t. I’m genuinely eager to see how this all unfolds, with plenty of storylines simmering beneath the surface as Neyland Stadium prepares for the roar of another unforgettable season. LEARN MOREFollow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).*East Tennessee State competes in FCS and is not included

The 2025 college football season will unofficially kick off July 14-17 at Omni Atlanta Hotel at Centennial Park and the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ahead of SEC media days and the upcoming season, ESPN Football Power Index released percentage chances for Tennessee’s opponents to become bowl eligible in 2025. ESPN FPI determines a team’s bowl eligibility chances by a percent of season simulations, in which a team won at least six games (typically bowl-eligible).

Chances for Tennessee’s 2025 football opponents to become bowl eligible

Tennessee will kick off its 2025 campaign with a nonconference matchup against Syracuse. The season opening contest is slated for Aug. 30 at noon EDT, and will be televised by ABC. Tennessee’s other nonconference games in 2025 are against East Tennessee State, UAB and New Mexico State at Neyland Stadium.The Vols will also host Georgia, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt in 2025, while playing at Mississippi State, Alabama, Kentucky and Florida.