Bret Bielema says why Illinois beating Tennessee is critical for immediate program growth

The Illinois Fighting Illini are one win away from finishing the season with nine or more wins for the second straight season if they can beat the Tennessee Volunteers Tuesday afternoon in Nashville (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) in the Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl.

For coach Bret Bielema, beating the Volunteers isn't just a priority. It maintains a newfound program standard of maintaining national relevance and continuing to make the postseason count.

“I look over and I see [Illinois AD] Josh [Whitman] and to be on this journey with him, we talked about sustainable success, and I just keep going back to it’s three in four years or however it’s going to play out, but those two years that we missed were both five-win seasons, I’m just like, ‘Damn, if we would have got one more win in those two,’ like to be five-for-five would be something really [special]," Bielema told reporters Monday.

Bielema has "tremendous respect" for the Volunteers, but the main priority is making sure the senior class is sent out the right way to create a springboard for years to come.

"We’ll have a host of guys that kind of rallied around that," Bielema said. "Talked to [left guard] Josh Gesky about playing next to Nathan for the first time, just kind of give him help and experience. Then obviously in the back end, we’ll have several guys kind of fill in for Matt Bailey and his role that he’s always held."

Bielema's team was arguably only two wins away from clinching a College Football Playoff berth, but getting a chance to win another postseason game is only a sign of what may come next.

“Then what this does is it gives you an opportunity, obviously, if you’re fortunate enough to win it, a bowl game is very unique in the fact that you carry it with you for the next six, seven, eight months, right, until you play that next game again. So a tremendous opportunity for our kids," Bielema said. "Obviously a storied bowl game here with over 25, 27 years of experiences, so really excited for that.”

Illinois-Tennessee marks the first time both programs are playing against each other in football, but Bielema and the Volunteers know each other fairly well. When Bielema coached the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Razorbacks won a 2015 game 24-20.

Although the game was a decade ago, Bielema knows what it takes to win.

Now it's up to Illinois to execute.