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Tennessee football picked to tie for third in East by online magazine

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 09: A general view of the outside of Neyland Stadium prior to the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Indiana State Sycamores on September 9, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 09: A general view of the outside of Neyland Stadium prior to the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Indiana State Sycamores on September 9, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Can the Tennessee football Volunteers finish better than third in the SEC East?

There’s no doubt that Tennessee football, while not expected to perform better than the Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs this year, hopes to prove it is a step above the rest of the SEC teams in its division. Jeremy Pruitt’s third team would like to prove that.

However, the Vols are projected to only tie for third behind Florida and Georgia this year in the College Football News SEC Preview for 2020. The outlet has UT tying with the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Kentucky Wildcats in that spot. All three teams are projected at 5-5.

This isn’t too surprising when you look at the updated CFN rankings from Aug. 17. It had Rocky Top No. 19 in the new top 76, adjusted for teams not playing fall sports. That was one spot ahead of the South Carolina Gamecocks at No. 20 and two spots behind the Kentucky Wildcats at No. 17.

Considering the fact that Tennessee football’s first game is against South Carolina on the road, it’s easy to see how the Vols could tie with them when those are the rankings. Other write-ups by the online magazine make it more understandable.

Before the SEC announced it would go to a league-only 10-game schedule, CFN had the Vols going 7-5 and 4-4 in the SEC in its original predictions. That included a loss at South Carolina and a win against Kentucky. It also included an upset loss at the Arkansas Razorbacks.

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However, a predicted upset win over the Florida Gators was also on that slate. South Carolina, meanwhile, was picked to go 7-5 and 4-4 in the league as well, losing to Kentucky, while Kentucky was projected to go 7-5 and 3-5 in league play. If the three teams beat each other and all go 5-5 on the new slate, though, it’s easy to see how they could finish in a tie for third.

Of course, the 5-5 projection is a bit odd since four of the five losses projected by CFN are still on UT’s schedule. The other two are the Auburn Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies, both of whom are ranked ahead of Rocky Top, at No. 9 and No. 11 respectively. However, things were clearly updated, as the online magazine now has Arkansas going 0-10.

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There’s obviously no way Arkansas could upset Tennessee football if they go 0-10. That must mean they have a new slate of predictions. Either way, the Vols are picked to go 5-5 along with South Carolina and Kentucky, Florida and Georgia were both predicted to finish tied for first in the East at 8-2 each, and the Alabama Crimson Tide were picked to win the West with a 9-1 record.

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