Tennessee vs. Illinois prediction, odds, time: 2025 Music City Bowl picks from proven model

The 2025-26 college football bowl schedule has a Tuesday tripleheader, with the Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl 2025 the middle matchup. It features the Tennessee Volunteers taking on the Illinois Fighting Illini in an SEC vs. Big Ten contest. Both squads are 8-4, with the Vols coming off a 45-24 loss to Vanderbilt, while the Illini defeated Northwestern, 20-13, in their last outing.

Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. ET from Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. The Volunteers are 2.5-point favorites in the latest Illinois vs. Tennessee odds, while the over/under is 61.5.

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Before making any Tennessee vs. Illinois picks, be sure to check out the college football predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine Projection Model.

The model simulates every FBS game 10,000 times, and it is 31-19 on its top-rated college football money-line picks since the beginning of the 2024 season. 

The model has simulated Illinois vs. Tennessee 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is going Under, and it also says one side of the spread hits almost 70% of the time!

So who wins Tennessee vs. Illinois, and which side of the spread hits almost 70% of the time? Join SportsLine right now to see which side of the Illinois vs. Tennessee spread you need to jump on, all from the computer model that has simulated this game 10,000 times!

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