KNOXVILLE — Tennessee will conclude the 2019 season with a matchup against Indiana in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET on Jan. 2 at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Fla.
Following the announcement of the Tennessee-Indiana matchup, UT’s Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer discussed the Vols playing in the Gator Bowl and how close they were in heading to the Music City Bowl.
“Nashville would have been a fantastic destination,” Fulmer said. “It is a great venue, a great place and in-state. The conference commissioner, in the end, makes the decision to ask for our preferences and we went back and forth a couple of times of what was best, and at the end I think we landed in the right place for this football team for this particular time.”
Fulmer also mentioned that the Gator Bowl is getting “the hottest team” as the Vols have won five consecutive contests.
“It played out very well,” Fulmer said. “There’s a process in place, starting with the College Football Playoff, things kind of fell where they did and being in the group that we were in, I think the Gator Bowl got the hottest team right now.”