Tennessee

Who Will Tennessee Play in Sweet 16 – Previewing Illinois vs Kentucky

Published

9 months ago

March 23, 2025

Who Will Tennessee Play in Sweet 16 – Previewing Illinois vs Kentucky

The Tennessee Volunteers have already secured their trip to the Sweet 16 with their win over UCLA on Saturday night. We take a look at who they might play next round.

The Tennessee Vols are headed to the Sweet 16 after their nine-point win over the UCLA Bruins in the round of 32. The Vols are set to make their third straight Sweet 16 and with experienced guard play from Zakai Zeigler and elite scoring prowess from Chaz Lanier, on top of an elite team defensive effort, the Vols are looking strong entering the next round.

Now, who will they play? Well, let’s take a look at it.

The No. 3 seeded Kentucky Wildcats are set to take on the No. 6 seeded Illinois Fighting Illini on Sunday evening. According to FanDuel, Illinois is actually a 1.5 point favorite in the contest despite being the lower-seeded team. Either way, it’s projected to be a tightly contest basketball game, per the FanDuel odds.

The Vols have played both Illinois and Kentucky this season. They beat Illinois 66-64 back in December. And they were (0-2) against the Wildcats in conference play this season.

The Vols currently have the fifth-best odds to win the NCAA Championship per FanDuel. The current favorites are Duke, Florida, Auburn, Houston, and then Tennessee. The good news for Tennessee, the will avoid everyone but Houston until the Elite 11.

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Tennessee

Remembering one of Middle Tennessee’s largest tornado outbreaks 4 years later

Published

7 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

Remembering one of Middle Tennessee’s largest tornado outbreaks 4 years later

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Four years ago, Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky were impacted by one of the largest tornado outbreaks on record. On Dec. 10 and 11, 2021, a tornado outbreak impacted areas from Arkansas and Missouri all the way into northern Indiana and Ohio. There was a total of 66 tornadoes; 16 of […]

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Tennessee

Tracking Music City Bowl opt outs for Tennessee and Illinois

Published

19 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Tracking the opt outs for both Tennessee and Illinois before the Music City Bowl on December 30 (5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN) at Nissan Stadium in Nashville:

Tennessee

Linebacker Arion Carter: Carter over the last seasons had 96 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in 31 career games. He had a team-high 76 tackles this season, with 6.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks while appearing in 10 games. He missed two games and was limited against Oklahoma in November while dealing with turf toe injuries. Carter had 68 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss in 13 games last season and 17 tackles and 1.0 tackles for loss in eight games as a freshman in 2023.

Wide Receiver Chris Brazzell II: He a breakout senior season in his second year with the Vols, catching 62 passes for 1,017 yards and nine touchdowns. He had 19 catches for 333 yards and two touchdowns in 2024, after transferring from Tulane. In 15 games at Tulane he caught 45 passes for 722 yards and five touchdowns. Brazzell is ranked No. 7 at wide receiver on Mel Kiper Jr.’s NFL Draft Big Board. He’s ranked No. 34 overall on ESPN’s list of the best available prospects in the draft.

Cornerback Jermod McCoy: Did not play this season after tearing his ACL during offseason training in January. He was a star last season with 44 tackles, nine passes defended and four interceptions. He had 31 tackles and two interceptions in 12 games as a freshman at Oregon State before transferring to Tennessee.

Illinois

Offensive Tackle J.C. Davis: Bret Bielema said the Illinois starting left tackle is opting out of the Music City Bowl. He was an All-Big Ten First Team pick by the league coaches this season and the No. 3 left tackle this season according to Pro Football Focus grades. He had made 49 straight starts before opting out of the bowl game.

EDGE Gabe Jacas: The Illinois outside linebacker declared for the NFL Draft on Friday night. He led the Big Ten this season with 11.0 sacks. He had 13.5 tackles for loss and 43 total tackles in 12 games this season. He finishes second in Illinois program history for career sacks, with 27.0, trailing only Simeon Rice. Jacas had 74 tackles, 8.0 sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss last season, after combining for 8.0 sacks and 9.0 tackles for loss in his first two seasons at Illinois.

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More than 8,500 layoffs hit Tennessee in 2025, nearly 19% increase from 2024

Published

1 day ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

More than 8,500 layoffs hit Tennessee in 2025, nearly 19% increase from 2024

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Tennessee employers laid off more than 8,500 workers in 2025 compared to 7,320 last year, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development.

This is about a 19% increase in layoffs, with WARN notices impacting 8,691 Tennesseans to date. As of 2023, 5,168 Tennessee workers were laid off through WARN notices.

Counties in Middle Tennessee impacted include:

Davidson
Sumner
Maury
Rutherford
Williamson
Wilson
Coffee
DeKalb
Bedford
Lawrence
Putnam

The largest layoff this year was in Maury County. Come January, 710 employees will be laid off from GM Ultium Cells’ Spring Hill facility. Research Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee Knoxville Michael Kofoed tells FOX 17 News that the facility is is likely impacted by the rise on steel tariffs ruled out by the Trump administration. He adds steel tariffs raise input costs for employers which directly impacts employees’ salary or employment.

The second largest layoff impacted 658 workers at Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC in Rutherford County with 615 workers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center permanently laid off. WARN notices are reports a company is required to file with the state to give workers time to find future employment.

Kofoed states that Tennessee is seeing a troubling trend, with layoffs skyrocketing since 2023.