Tennessee football: Ranking games on Vols 2018 schedule by importance

12. East Tennessee State Buccaneers

This is at the bottom of the list because it should be a fall-out-of-bed victory. Tennessee football should not have to focus on this game at all. Playing an FCS school in general should always be the least important game on Rocky Top.

However, there are some aspects of this game that make it interesting. For instance, coming right after their season-opener against the West Virginia Mountaineers, it is their home opener. On top of that, it’s against an area team. And finally, new athletic director Phillip Fulmer was instrumental in getting ETSU’s football program off the ground a few years ago.

So there are some connections here. Oh, and it could also be the first win of the Jeremy Pruitt era as Tennessee football’s head coach depending on what happens the week before. However, even after taking all of that into account, it’s hard to place too much importance on this game in the overall scope of the season.

Winning this game will be no different for the Vols than anything they’ve done over the past five years. Even last year, their worst year in school history, they managed to dominate the one FCS opponent they played. So beating teams like these have absolutely no impact on the season for Tennessee football. That’s why it’s in last place here. What makes this game even duller is it comes right before the next game on this list, making for an unimportant two weeks on the schedule.