3. 1987
Lost to Boston College Eagles 20-18
10-2-1 (4-1-1); No. 14 AP; No. 13 Coaches; W Peach Bowl
Yep, we’re still involving Johnny Majors. This was part of a transition period in which Tennessee football had finally returned to elite status potential as a program under him but had not yet reached their peak. That would come two years later. But two years before, they did win the SEC Championship and finish off ranked No. 4 in the nation.
Coming off a 7-5 season, though, nobody knew what to think of the Vols. Ranked No. 17 in preseason, they won their first game against the No. 16 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes. That was part of a 3-0 start before they tied the No. 3 ranked Auburn Tigers on the road and then beat the California Golden Bears.
As a result, they were No. 8 getting set to face the Alabama Crimson Tide on the road. But as was common during this time, they inexplicably lost to a very inferior Bama team in blowout fashion, 41-22. Still, at least Alabama finished with a winning record.
After rebounding against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, they traveled to Massachusetts to face the Boston College Eagles on Halloween. This was a bad BC team at 4-4, and ranked No. 15, the Vols were supposed to win easily. They didn’t.
Boston College pulled off a 20-18 upset, which was embarrassing for Rocky Top. They lost the SEC title losing to an inferior team, and they lost any shot at a top 10 finish losing to another inferior team. The Eagles would to on to finish with a losing record at 5-6.
However, the Vols at least responded by winning their final five games, including a 27-22 Peach Bowl victory over the Indiana Hoosiers. So even with that bad loss, this became their first 10-win season since the Bill Battle era, proving Majors had the program slowly but surely reaching the next level.