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Tennessee football: Worst to best case scenarios for Vols’ 2022 season

By Caleb Calhoun

Smokey runs the end zone after a touchdown during the Tennessee Volunteers' game against Alabama in Neyland Stadium on Saturday, October 20, 2018.Kns Utvsbamafootball Bp Jpg
Smokey runs the end zone after a touchdown during the Tennessee Volunteers' game against Alabama in Neyland Stadium on Saturday, October 20, 2018.Kns Utvsbamafootball Bp Jpg /
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The Tennessee Volunteer waves a Power T flag during the Vol Walk ahead of a game against Pittsburgh at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021.Kns Tennessee Pittsburgh Football
The Tennessee Volunteer waves a Power T flag during the Vol Walk ahead of a game against Pittsburgh at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021.Kns Tennessee Pittsburgh Football /

4. 6-6 or 7-5

  • Beat all three non-Power Five teams, Vanderbilt and Missouri
  • Lose to Georgia and Alabama
  • 1-4 or 2-3 vs. Pitt, Florida, LSU, Kentucky or South Carolina

Yes, Tennessee football could still underachieve by reaching bowl eligibility this year. Although the FPI suggests this is their most likely landing spot as a team, it then wouldn’t be any better than last year’s regular season. Doing that under a second-year head coach is always underwhelming, so that’s what would make this disappointing.

The Vols’ path to a bowl game includes their circled wins plus Mizzou, a likely win. Then they have five toss-up games on the year: At the Pittsburgh Panthers, the Florida Gators, at the LSU Tigers, the Kentucky Wildcats and at the South Carolina Gamecocks.

For many reasons, some of these games seem more likely to go one way than another, but UT could realistically lose all of these games and realistically win all of these games. The goal is for them to have a winning record against those foes. A losing record against them would be disappointing, and that’s what this scenario would involve.

If Rocky Top has a losing record against these teams, assuming the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide are the circled losses, then they’ll have no shot at a top 25 finish to end the season. That’s a goal they should aspire to as a way to measure them taking a step forward, so missing out on it would be a problem.

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