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Tennessee football: Five reasonable goals for 2022

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 /

1. Finish season in the top 25

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Last year, Tennessee football entered the bowl season with the outside possibility of finishing in the top 25. We set a goal for them to crack the rankings at least once during the season, but that never came to fruition. Still, that was understandable since it was Josh Heupel’s first season.

This year, the Vols can expect more. In terms of cracking the top 25, they are one spot out of the Preseason AP Poll and three spots out of the Preseason Coaches Poll. As a result, if they can’t manage to crack the rankings at any point in the year, the season will be a massive disappointment. However, they can do more.

If the Vols meet all the goals we laid out for them on the previous slides, they will have at least gone 8-4 on the season. The last and only two times since Phillip Fulmer’s firing that they had eight regular season wins were 2015 and 2016. Both times they won their bowl game and finished in the top 25. That happened under Butch Jones.

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Josh Heupel is Tennessee football’s first head coach returning from an inaugural winning season on the job since Fulmer himself. If 8-4 is on the table, then nine wins should be on there too, and nine wins gets you in the top 25. That would involve either winning their bowl or going 9-3 in the regular season, and both should be possible.

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