Tennessee football: Ranking games on Vols 2018 schedule by importance

7. Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia is the final surefire loss on this schedule for Tennessee football. But to be fair, that’s only because the game is in Athens. The Dawgs figure to be a bit worse than the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers this year because of all their attrition.

Sure, their historically great recruiting class will offset that. But this isn’t basketball. The young guys will need time to gel. As a result, there will be some bumps in the road for this team early, and that gives the Vols a chance to pounce since the two face off in late September.

The slight chance of winning, even if it is a surefire loss, puts this above Alabama and Auburn. On top of that, this is now indeed a rivalry game. And Jeremy Pruitt makes the rivalry deeper because of the things that former UGA players have said about him recently given his two years there.

Finally, this is a divisional game, which makes it slightly even more important. If, again, the Vols perform a miracle and find themselves in the SEC East race at the end of the year, this game will be much more important. All of those things together make Georgia a much more important game for the Vols to focus on than Alabama or Auburn.

However, once again, this is one of the less important games on the schedule. Just like three surefire losses, it joins three surefire wins. These are the games Tennessee football fans don’t need to focus on too much.