Tennessee football: Ranking games on Vols 2018 schedule by importance

11. UTEP Miners

Yes, right after the East Tennessee State game, the UTEP Miners come to town. This should be another easy win for Tennessee football, as these guys went 0-12 last year. However, an FBS team always has more importance and carries more weight than an FCS team.

After all, the Vols have a couple of losses to really bad non-conference teams in the past who played at that level. Remember the Wyoming Cowboys in 2008? That game cost them a bowl appearance in Phillip Fulmer’s final season.

Then there was the Memphis Tigers game in 1996. These were both bad losses to bad teams, so low-level FBS teams still require more focus than FCS teams on Rocky Top. UTEP will also be a bit of a trap game since it’s right before the Florida Gators.

An intriguing aspect in this game is that the Miners are also entering the year with a new head coach in Dana Dimel, who has spent the last nine years as offensive coordinator of the Kansas State Wildcats. Dimel was once a head coach with Wyoming and the Houston Cougars, but Houston fired him after three years in 2002. He’s been an assistant ever since.

However, Dimel is actually familiar with Neyland Stadium, which makes this more intriguing. He was Wyoming’s head coach in 1999 when they traveled to Rocky Top for the Vols’ season-opener after their national championship year in 1998, and he actually did build a 10-7 lead at one point. So this game could be tricky in numerous ways and is slightly more important than ETSU.