Tennessee football has rooting interests in three games during bye

There’s no SEC division title or College Football Playoff ranking for Tennessee football to worry about. Things like that haven’t been in play for a long time, and they limit the rooting interests Vol fans may have in other games.

However, for different reasons, three of the four games in Saturday’s SEC slate during the Vols’ bye week could have a major impact on Rocky Top. Vol fans should root for the Georgia Bulldogs over the Florida Gators, the Ole Miss Rebels over the Auburn Tigers and the Kentucky Wildcats over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

One is about the long-term future of the program, another is about the opportunity it will present the program when they return to the field, and a third is about better bowl positioning. Tennessee football fans should first root for Georgia at all costs.

Of course, that could be about better bowl positioning, as Florida would then have four losses, but they won’t lose again, so they’ll get a bid over the Vols. The real reason to root for Georgia is because the Vols could use Florida taking a step back as a program.

Dan Mullen is already on the hot seat. As a mediocre recruiter to begin with, staying on that seat could kill his 2022 class, which is already struggling. Also, if Florida loses and stumbles to 8-4 on the year, a major disappointment given the preseason expectations, they could suffer a wave of transfers and low morale to go along with a bad class heading into next year.

That would happen just as the Vols are emerging as a program under Josh Heupel, and they could have just what it takes to finally beat Florida at home next year. One of the best ways the Vols could return to prominence is for Florida to fall off the map.

On the other hand, if Florida pulls off the upset Saturday, they will be rejuvenated as a program under Mullen and positioned for a strong finish to the season. Everything will be fine, Mullen’s seat will cool off, and this program won’t be going anywhere.

Auburn and Ole Miss is all about bowl positioning. It’s impossible to see Ole Miss falling below Tennessee football in the race for a better bowl, as they beat the Vols and have only one loss. However, you could see that with Auburn.

It’s possible the Tigers, who are also under a first-year head coach in Bryan Harsin, still stumble to 7-5 despite their 5-2 record. They have to face Ole Miss, the Texas A&M Aggies and the Alabama Crimson Tide. If they lost all three and did have that record, their resume would be the same as the Vols: Four SEC losses and a non-conference Power Five loss.

Although Auburn would probably have the better resume given its schedule, it would also be lower in the West standings than UT would in the East. As a result, that alone could get the Vols a better bid at the end of the year, and that’s something they need.

Then there’s Kentucky and Mississippi State. Well, Tennessee football is also competing with Mike Leach’s team for a bowl bid more than Kentucky. At the same time, the Vols would have a great opportunity for a huge upset if Mark Stoops’ team won.

A Kentucky win likely puts them back in the top 10 next week. The Vols would then be traveling to Lexington off a bye with a chance to pull off one of their biggest wins in years. That would really generate talk about what Heupel is building on Rocky Top.

Of course, Tennessee football could lose that game, but they have a better chance than you might think. With that chance, they should want Kentucky to have the highest profile it could possibly have. Combine that with Florida potentially collapsing and Auburn falling behind the Vols in a bowl race, and Heupel could be looking really strong in November.