KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee will be heading to Jacksonville, Florida for the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, which will be played at TIAA Bank Field on Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. ET.

The Volunteers will take on Big Ten foe Indiana in the 75th edition of the Gator Bowl.

“I want to thank TaxSlayer Gator Bowl President and CEO Rick Catlett and chairman Rich Thompson, and the committee and volunteers that work so hard to make the Gator Bowl so special each year,” Tennessee Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer said. “The University of Tennessee is proud to be a part of its rich history, and we are very excited to bring this passionate fanbase and hungry football team to Jacksonville.”

The Volunteers will be making their 53rd bowl game appearance in program history, which ranks sixth among all college football programs. UT holds a 28-24 all-time record in bowl games.

The Big Orange enter the postseason as one of the hottest teams in college football after winning six of their last seven games, including their final five games of the regular season.

“We are extremely excited to be headed to the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl,” head coach Jeremy Pruitt said. “This is a credit to our players, our coaching staff, our support staff, our administration and our fans.

“The Gator Bowl has a rich history and we are honored to be a part of the 75th edition of the game. Jacksonville is a fantastic city and I know our fans will travel and support us. We’ve had a great second-half of the season, winning five straight, but we are not done yet.”

Tennessee’s most recent bowl appearance came in 2016 as the Vols defeated Nebraska, 38-24, in the Music City Bowl.

This will be UT’s seventh time playing in the Gator Bowl. The Vols are 4-2 in the previous six appearances, including a 45-28 victory over Iowa in 2015. That bowl appearance snapped a four-year postseason drought for the Vols and was the first of three straight bowl wins in consecutive seasons.

Quarterback Joshua Dobbs earned MVP honors after passing for 129 yards and a touchdown and rushing for another 76 yards and two scores to help lead the Vols to their first postseason victory since the 2008 Outback Bowl.

Tennessee’s other Gator Bowl trips came in 1994 (win vs. Virginia Tech), 1973 (loss vs. Texas Tech), 1969 (loss vs. Florida), 1966 (win vs. Syracuse) and 1957 (win vs. Texas A&M).

Fans interested in a premium travel package, including hotel stay, game ticket, reception, bowl souvenir and game day transportation can visit VolSportsTravel.com.

Fans interested in purchasing tickets are encouraged to do so through the Gator Bowl website (TaxSlayerGatorBowl.com) by clicking HERE.  

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Teleconference Transcript (Dec. 8)

Tennessee Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer

On what Tennessee’s process of selecting a preference for its bowl game was:
“It’s kind of all of the above with what both of the coaches said. It (the Gator Bowl) has a great history, great tradition, and is in a great part of the country to come and play. I’ve experienced it as a player way back when, and as a head coach had a fantastic experience with the Gator Bowl. I’m looking forward to being back as the athletic director. It’s a great matchup with an outstanding school whose staff has done a super job, and I look forward to it.”

On coaching the 1994 Gator Bowl, which was played in Gainesville:
“This is really about these teams that are playing in this game. That was different, but it worked out fine. This is an exciting time, a great venue, a great city to come to and two really fine, improving football teams to play against each other.”

On how close Tennessee was to playing in Nashville for its bowl game:
“Nashville would have been a fantastic destination, they’ve done a great job with their bowl and again, it’s another great venue and a great place. Obviously, it’s in state as well. The conference commissioner in the end makes the decision and asks for our preferences and we’ve been back and forth a couple of times as to what was best, and I think at the end we landed in the right place for this football team at this particular time.”

On how the day played out:
“I think it played out very well. There is a process in place starting with the College Football Playoff. Things fell where they did and being in the group of six that we were in, I think the Gator Bowl got the hottest team going right now with wins in our last part of our season with our five-game winning streak. Coach Pruitt and the job that he’s done, I think it has played out kind of normal. We are happy to be going to Jacksonville.”

On Jauan Jennings suspension for the first half of the bowl game:
“I think coach Pruitt just answered that. We listened and we are going to support the conference and go about our business. That’s all I have to say about it.”

Tennessee Head Football Coach Jeremy Pruitt

On the turning point of Tennessee’s season:
“With the two off weeks this year, we were 1-3 heading into the first off week. We had a disappointing start early in the year, and I feel like our seniors and our coaching staff did a fantastic job keeping this group together. We have a very young and inexperienced team and they stayed together and showed a lot of resiliency and fight and hung in there and we found a way to win ball games down the stretch. I’m really proud of the opportunity this team has presented itself with and giving these senior the opportunity to play one more time.”

On Jauan Jennings’ suspension for the first half of the bowl game:
“Absolutely, we had a talk about it. It is something that has been addressed and moving forward, Jauan has been a great representative for the university and will continue to do that. I know he probably has some frustrations, but it is something we support and will continue to move forward with it.”

The value of playing a bowl game in Florida for recruiting:
“I have recruited Duval County for a long time, and we have had some success there over the years. Just an opportunity to play against a really good football program and a chance for our fans and everybody associated with our university to enjoy a bowl trip. Again, a fantastic venue against a great opponent.”

On bowl game personnel:
“We have been recruiting and our kids have been working on finals. We’ll start practice here shortly and probably have a little better gauge on that when we get everybody back together.”