Tennessee football: Five bold predictions for Vols 2019 season

2. Tennessee football goes undefeated in non-conference play and wins a road game.

Yes, these two are connected. The Vols have the rare occurrence of playing all four non-conference games at home, and none of the teams are in or affiliated with a Power Five conference. So it’s the easiest non-conference schedule they have enjoyed in years, and Jeremy Pruitt is probably thrilled with his cupcake slate.

As a result, they not only will go undefeated, but Pruitt will earn every bit of scrutiny if they don’t. Sure, the BYU Cougars are a very good team, and the UAB Blazers’ coaching staff is very familiar with the Vols’ coaching staff. None of these teams, however, are even close to UT’s level of talent this year.

Now, with that non-conference slate, winning a road game becomes harder. But we’ve got them doing that somewhere in the conference. The likelihood is that they beat the Kentucky Wildcats, a team they stomped 24-7 last year and that loses a ton of its production.

However, if that doesn’t happen, there could be an off-chance that the Vols beat the Missouri Tigers. How will Barry Odom’s team be feeling if the bowl ban is upheld, and could their lack of depth affect them by November?

What’s almost certain is that UT will not beat the Florida Gators or Alabama Crimson Tide. Florida is more likely, and they did look ugly on Saturday, but that’s not one to count on. So the Vols will beat either Kentucky or Mizzou, and hey, they may beat both. But they’ll get a road win to complement their undefeated non-conference slate.