NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The curtain will fall on the 2025 college football season for two preseason playoff contenders right here in Nashville.

The Tennessee Volunteers (8-4, 4-4 SEC) will face off against the Illinois Fighting Illini (8-4, 5-4 Big Ten) in the Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl. This much-anticipated matchup is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 4:30 p.m. and will take place at Nissan Stadium.

This showdown marks the first-ever meeting on the football field between the Volunteers and the Fighting Illini.

Both squads will contend with several key player absences, notably Tennessee’s top wide receiver Chris Brazzell II. With 1,017 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, Brazzell’s absence is a significant blow for the Volunteers.

Despite this, Tennessee’s coach Josh Heupel will look to his deep pool of talent at wide receiver, with Braylon Staley leading the charge. The team will also depend on emerging talents like Radarious Jackson and Travis Smith Jr. to step up in Brazzell’s absence.

“Those are two young guys that, as we were getting ready to go into the season that I talked highly about. Just their maturity coming in in January, their growth, both of them had injuries at the different times of the year that slowed some of that down,” Heupel said of Jackson and Smith. “They’ve had great practices here on the back end of the season, and over the last week and a half, two weeks, and both those guys are going to get an opportunity to play a lot of football, and I expect them to go play at a really high level.”

Taking on Illinois shorthanded will be a tall task for the Volunteers, but they’ve battled injury all season at crucial positions.

Heupel and his team have a clear understanding and sense of respect for the challenge ahead with Bret Bielema’s Illinois team.

“Illinois, physical football team that doesn’t beat themselves, has a quarterback that has played at a really high level for a long time, and their ability to run the football offensively, multiple in what they do defensively, different personnel groupings, and you’ve got to be prepared for all of it. So, really good test against a really good football team.”

The path to a win and a ninth victory for the Volunteers seems quite simple: score a lot. The Illinois offense has sputtered to close the season as it hasn’t scored more than 30 points since Nov. 1. Simply put, Illinois can’t afford a track meet, but Tennessee absolutely can.

Tennessee has a high flying offense, and Heupel has a knack for getting up on teams early and having a chance to coast the rest of the way. Building a lead is important rather than letting Illinois hang around for 60 minutes as the Fighting Illini are a team of veteran players, which is hard to come by in this day and age of college football.

One area that will have a major impact on what the final score looks like is how well Illinois can run the ball. The Illini have struggled mightily in recent weeks to have a consistent rushing attack, and when Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer is leading the team in rushing yards, it typically means trouble for his team.

The Tennessee defense’s last attempt at stopping the run was frankly a mess, giving up 314 yards to Vanderbilt University in Neyland Stadium. The Volunteers cannot afford another defensive performance like that if they want to close 2025 on a high note.

Allowing Illinois to run the ball effectively will give Bielema and Altmyer a chance to play their game, which is a low-scoring, one-score battle that comes down to the wire.

Heupel and Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar will surely be looking to put on a show in front of what should be a Nissan Stadium filled with the Volunteer faithful. Let’s see how Illinois will try to match it.

Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Nashville.