Tennessee vs. Illinois Dunkel NCAA Football Picks, Predictions and Odds - Music City Bowl

The Music City Bowl features a showdown between the Tennessee Volunteers (who are just 2.5-point favorites) and the Illinois Fighting Illini on December 30, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

The Volunteers lost against the Vanderbilt Commodores in their most recent game, 45-24.

The Fighting Illini beat the Northwestern Wildcats, 20-13, in their most recent contest.

Tennessee vs. Illinois Predictions

For predictions on the upcoming contest between the Tennessee Volunteers and Illinois Fighting Illini, computer-derived against-the-spread, over/under, and score predictions are below, based on data from Dunkel Index.

• Pick ATS: Volunteers (- 2.5)
• Pick OU: Over (61.5)
  
• Prediction: Volunteers 45 - Fighting Illini 25

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Tennessee vs. Illinois Moneylines

Grab a look below at the latest moneylines for the Volunteers-Fighting Illini game.

• Tennessee Moneyline: -138
• Illinois Moneyline: +116

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Tennessee Betting Insights

• Tennessee has gone 6-2 in games it was favored on the moneyline (winning 75% of those games).
• Tennessee has gone 6-1 when it has played as a moneyline favorite with odds of -138 or shorter (85.7%).
• Volunteers games this season have featured more combined points than this contest's total of 61.5 points eight times.
• The Volunteers have an average point total of 59.8 in their contests this year, 1.7 fewer points than this game's over/under.
• The Fighting Illini are college football's 63rd-highest scoring team this season compared to the ninth-ranked Volunteers.

Illinois Betting Insights

• Illinois has entered the game as an underdog four times this season and won once.
• Illinois has a record of 1-3 when it is set as an underdog of +116 or more by oddsmakers this season.
• Illinois has played five games this season that ended with a point total above 61.5 points.
• Illinois has had an average of 53.2 points scored in their games so far this season, 8.3 points fewer than this game's over/under.

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Key Stats for Tennessee vs. Illinois

• The Volunteers rank 89th in total defense this season (395.5 yards allowed per game), but they've been shining on the offensive side of the ball, ranking fourth-best in the FBS with 482 total yards per game.
• Tennessee ranks 92nd in scoring defense this year (28.8 points allowed per game), but has been shining on the offensive side of the ball, ranking sixth-best in the FBS with 40.8 points per game.
• From an offensive angle, the Fighting Illini are putting up 370.3 total yards per contest (82nd-ranked). They rank 50th in the FBS on defense (350.7 total yards given up per game).
• In terms of points scored Illinois ranks 53rd in the FBS (29.3 points per game), and it is 55th defensively (23.3 points allowed per contest).