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Tennessee Vols: Bowl Projection For 2017 Season

By Zach Ragan

NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 30: Head coach Butch Jones of the University of Tennessee Volunteers reacts on the sideline during the second half of a game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium on December 30, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 30: Head coach Butch Jones of the University of Tennessee Volunteers reacts on the sideline during the second half of a game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium on December 30, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /
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The Tennessee Vols are hoping to play in a bowl game for the fourth straight season in 2017.

Butch Jones has led the Tennessee Vols to a bowl game in three of his four seasons in Knoxville.

In 2017, he will hope to lead UT to their fourth straight bowl game. That’s a feat that hasn’t been accomplished on Rocky Top since the golden age of Tennessee football before the 2005 season.

Tennessee won’t have the same firepower in 2017 they had in 2016, with the loss of players like Josh Dobbs, Alvin Kamara, Josh Malone, and Derek Barnett (just to name a few), but they still have a talented young roster that shows promise.

Athlon Sports obviously sees the same potential in the Volunteers, because they are projecting Tennessee to play Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day.

If this projection rings true, it would be the fourth time in the last 11 years that Tennessee has played in the Outback Bowl.

The Vols played Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl in January 2008. That was also the last time Tennessee won the SEC East and appeared in the SEC Championship game (they lost to LSU).

Tennessee last played in the Outback Bowl in January 2016, when they absolutely rolled Northwestern 45-6.

There’s a very good chance the Volunteers could win the SEC East and play in the Outback Bowl. Tennessee isn’t projected to win the SEC East in 2017, but rarely does the projected winner actually walk away with the division. That was the scenario for the Florida Gators in 2016.

For all that’s been said about Butch Jones’ job security this off-season, if he is able to lead the 2017 Vols, with all the talent they lost from 2016, to the Outback Bowl, it will be a hell of an accomplishment.

Especially if it ends up including a SEC East title.

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