Tennessee, Illinois hold maiden meeting in Music City Bowl

Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer recalls attending the 2011 Music City Bowl as his hometown university, Mississippi State, participated in the game in Nashville, Tenn.

That's why Altmyer plans to relish Tuesday's opportunity to face Tennessee in the 2025 edition of the game at Nissan Stadium.

Opting out to prepare for the NFL draft hardly was a consideration.

"These bowl games are very, very core memories for families, for myself, for the guys obviously," Altmyer said. "It's something I don't take for granted. It's going to stick with me forever, so I'm going to give it my best to make it a good one."

Volunteers quarterback Joey Aguilar agrees, although he acknowledges the tempered enthusiasm for a meeting of 8-4 schools that opened the season with College Football Playoff aspirations.

"You could say it's important. You could say it's not," Aguilar said. "I'm excited to go out there and play one more time for this team."

Aguilar and Altmyer guided strong attacks during the regular season. Aguilar topped the SEC regular season with 3,444 passing yards and accounted for 27 total touchdowns, while Altmyer passed for 2,811 yards with 21 TDs and just five interceptions.

Altmyer will need to adjust to someone else minding his blind side, however, as left tackle J.C. Davis opted out of the game and declared for the draft.

Illinois coach Bret Bielema has mulled multiple options for a replacement, including redshirt freshman Nathan Knapik and reserve guard Brandon Hansen.

The Volunteers' opt-outs include wide receiver Chris Brazzell II, linebacker Arion Carter, edge rusher Joshua Josephs and defensive backs Colton Hood and Jermod McCoy.

"We feel good about where we're at," Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. "Guys that are here are ready to go play."

Tuesday marks the first time that Tennessee and Illinois will meet in football.

Bielema is aiming to become the first coach in program history to earn a bowl victory in consecutive seasons. Illinois also is bidding to win at least nine games in successive seasons for the first time.

Heupel has led Tennessee to at least eight victories in four of his five seasons at the school.