Tennessee Is Out Of Liberty Bowl Due To COVID, Is Army In?

ESPN is reporting Tennessee is out of the December 31 Liberty Bowl due to COVID test results, paving the way for the Army Black Knights to replace the Volunteers in Memphis, if all parties do the right thing here.

Replacing the 3-7 Vols with the 9-2 Black Knights seems like the logical solution, as we wrote this morning. Army head coach Jeff Monken told ESPN his team needs one day of notice to arrange travel and be ready to hit the field.

“We had guys in tears,” Monken told ESPN. “We pulled off the biggest wins of these seniors’ career. They just won the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy back. That’s going to be their legacy, and they’re looking forward to playing in a bowl game one time together before they go off in the United States Army, and we’re sitting here telling them, ‘Sorry, guys, you can’t play.’

“You can talk about a playoff system and people bitching about they’re not a top-four team, ‘Oh, we should be in.’ All we want is a bowl game. All we want is a chance to play.”

Tennessee reportedly got its COVID results in Monday morning and decided it didn't have enough players to face West Virginia.

"The combination of positive tests and subsequent contact tracing doesn't leave Tennessee with enough players or coaches to participate in the bowl game," ESPN's Chris Low reports.