Tennessee is the early favorite in the Citrus Bowl against Iowa.
On January 1, Tennessee and Iowa will face off in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
Tennessee has been invited to the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, where it will face Iowa from the Big Ten on New Year’s Day in Orlando. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Vols opened as a 7-point favorite against the Hawkeyes in the top-25 postseason matchup at Camping World Stadium on Sunday afternoon. No. 21 Tennessee will try to finish its third season under Josh Heupel with a ninth win, while No. 17 Iowa will try for its 11th win after winning the Big Ten West Division this season but falling to Michigan in the conference championship game on Saturday.
Tennessee has been invited to the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, where it will face Iowa from the Big Ten on New Year’s Day in Orlando. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Vols opened as a 7-point favorite against the Hawkeyes in the top-25 postseason matchup at Camping World Stadium on Sunday afternoon. No. 21 Tennessee will try to finish its third season under Josh Heupel with a ninth win, while No. 17 Iowa will try for its 11th win after winning the Big Ten West Division this season but falling to Michigan in the conference championship game on Saturday.
Heupel is only the third Tennessee coach to reach a bowl game in each of his first three seasons, and a trip to Florida for a second straight postseason will feature a significant clash of styles. Iowa ranks fifth in total defense and scoring defense nationally, but ranks 133rd out of 133 FBS teams in total offense, averaging only 16.6 points per game. Tennessee ranks 17th in total offense and averages 31.5 points per game, which is a down year by Heupel’s high standards.
Kirk Ferentz was the head coach when Iowa lost to Tennessee in a bowl game nine years ago, and he was the offensive line coach when the Hawkeyes beat the Vols in a bowl game in the 1980s.
When asked about Tennessee’s 2023 team on a Zoom call on Sunday, he could recall more about the Hawkeyes in the 1980s when they beat them in a bowl game in 1982 and lost a season opener (the Kickoff Classic in East Rutherford, N.J.) to them.
“We certainly haven’t seen them this year, but I know the work that Josh has done, both obviously at Tennessee and then Central (Florida) before that – just outstanding,” Ferentz said in a statement. “We happened to see Tennessee the last two years against Kentucky.” We played Kentucky two years in a row (in bowl games), so we were familiar with them, but not from a game-planning standpoint.
