Tennessee football No. 22 in 247Sports preseason 2020 rankings
247Sports has love for the Tennessee football Volunteers in its top 25.
This has become a common theme for Tennessee football over the past few weeks. The Vols consistently find there way in or near preseason top 25 rankings for the upcoming season, and they managed to do it once again.
Rocky Top was tied with the Utah Utes for No. 22 in the 247Sports preseason rankings on Tuesday. Jeremy Pruitt’s third team was ranked seventh in the SEC, behind the Auburn Tigers, Texas A&M Aggies, LSU Tigers, Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide.
Last year’s six-game winning streak to close the season and finish 8-5 after a 2-5 start was cited as a big reason for this ranking, but Chris Hummer of 247sports said such a lasting impression makes for a chance that Tennessee football is overhyped. Here’s a bit of what else he said.
"The Vols bring back 17 starters, including the core of a young defense that allowed just 15.5 points per game during their season-ending win streak. Quarterback is a bit of a question for Tennessee, though Jarrett Guarantano played well over the team’s final six games. Finding replacements for Marquez Callaway and Jauan Jennings at receiver will be critical."
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While that returning talent is indeed key, another factor that stands out in Rocky Top’s favor is a top 10 recruiting class, their first since 2015. Pruitt is clearly building the roster while also returning a lot of guys.
However, true to other rankings, the rest of the list makes for bad news from UT’s perspective. Sure, they are expected to be better, but their schedule is much tougher as well. That will make it hard to surpass what they did last year.
We mentioned all the SEC teams ranked ahead of them. Well, the Vols play three of those teams in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, and they just happen to be the three highest-ranked teams in the conference. They also have to visit the Oklahoma Sooners, who were No. 7 in these rankings, making for four top 10 opponents.
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If that were not enough, the Kentucky Wildcats also received votes, and the Vols have to face them. Now, the South Carolina Gamecocks didn’t get any votes, and that’s a team that could be considered a tossup for Tennessee football this upcoming year since it’s in Columbia. But the rest of the rankings still prove that this will be a brutal schedule, and everybody sees that coming.