Tennessee will end up playing in some sh!t bowl game, they will have no momentum heading into the bowl selection process and will probably end up in Birmingham or Shreveport.
I for the life of me, can't understand why people don't see this. This happens Every. Single. Year. We end the season with a horrific OOC game, Kentucky, and Vandy. Now we even get to throw Mizsou in as the worst of the bunch. And every year we run the table- just as any team from the American would. And Every. Single. Season. the sheep line up to baa baa about how awesome we're gonna be next year because of our awesome winning streak.
I would think "bigger" bowls would hope to avoid UT. Even in wins our play has not been good and all bowls you listed are likely to be a disappointment to the majority of the fanbase, resulting in low turnout. Stars looking forward to NFL.9-3 or 8-4 doesn't be put you in the Independence or Birmingham Bowls. You'd need to fall to around 6-6 for those.
9-3/8-4 just puts you right in the middle of the now equally tiered, SEC decided, "Pool of 6" Bowl games (Outback/ Music City / Taxslayer / Belk / Texas / Liberty Bowls).
Florida is getting better every week. We are getting worse. They MIGHT lose to LSU, they will beat Arkansas. We are done for this year.