Tennessee football: Best and worst case scenarios for the 2018 season

We are a little over two weeks away from the start of the 2018 Tennessee football season. With a lot of unknowns, we break down the best and worst case scenarios.

First-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt and his Tennessee football team roll into action on Sept. 1 against the West Virginia Mountaineers. If you ask anyone outside of Knoxville, Tennessee does not have a chance in that game, much less the rest of the season.

Vegas has the win total at 5.5 games which would be an improvement from the worst season in program history. However, there is talent on this team, and with the right coaching, you never know what could happen.

Tennessee will be underdogs in a lot of games, and if teams decide to overlook them, the Vols could surprise the nation. However, it will not be easy. There is a stretch of five-games that could easily all be losses.

In this post, we are going to break down the best and worst case scenarios for the upcoming season.

Best-case scenario

Sept. 1 vs. West Virginia – W

Sept. 8 vs. ETSU – W

Sept. 15 vs. UTEP – W

Sept. 22 vs. Florida – W

Sept. 29 at Georgia – L

Oct. 13 at Auburn – L

Oct. 20 vs. Alabama – L

Oct. 27 vs. South Carolina – W

Nov. 3 vs. Charlotte – W

Nov. 10 vs. Kentucky – W

Nov. 17 vs. Missouri – W

Nov. 24 at Vanderbilt – W

Overall Record: 9-3, SEC: 5-3

I tried to be as reasonable as possible with each scenario. I think we all can be honest with each other and say the Vols are not going to beat Georgia or Alabama. Not this year, at least.

However, there is a real possibility that the Vols could beat West Virginia, Florida, and South Carolina.

Looking back on the disaster that was last season, both the Florida and South Carolina games should have been wins.

9-3 seems like a little bit of a stretch, but it is not impossible if this team can play a tough SEC style of defense and the offensive line stays healthy.

Worst-case scenario

Sept. 1 vs. West Virginia – L

Sept. 8 vs. ETSU – W

Sept. 15 vs. UTEP – W

Sept. 22 vs. Florida – L

Sept. 29 at Georgia – L

Oct. 13 at Auburn – L

Oct. 20 vs. Alabama – L

Oct. 27 vs. South Carolina – L

Nov. 3 vs. Charlotte – W

Nov. 10 vs. Kentucky – L

Nov. 17 vs. Missouri – L

Nov. 24 at Vanderbilt – W

Overall Record: 4-8, SEC: 1-7

Another 4-8 season is the worst case scenario for the Tennessee football season. Looking at the wins, you can count the three nonconference opponents and Vanderbilt. There is no scenario out there where the Vols lose to Vanderbilt.

This type of season would most certainly put a damper on things. However, it would be in Pruitt’s first season, so maybe riots would not start just yet.

We haven’t released our predictions for the upcoming season, but I think it is safe to say their record falls somewhere in between the two scenarios.

The countdown to the start of the season could not get here soon enough. Then the talk will end, and we will finally see what Jeremy Pruitt’s first-team is made of.