If the Tennessee football team was looking for some extra motivation leading up to the season-opener against Syracuse, CBS Sports has provided it. Recently, it came out with its list of teams on upset alert for Week 1 - and the Vols are featured.
What? Tennessee will enter that showdown, for now, as double-digit favorites and the expectation for a lot of people is that the Vols will cruise to a win. However, with Nico Iamaleava bailing for UCLA, it sure looks like CBS is having serious doubts over how the campaign will go for UT in 2025.
CBS has provided Tennessee football with bulletin-board material ahead of Week 1 this summer
"One of two games inside Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium during opening weekend, the Vols opened as a 12.5-point favorite against the Orange. Nearly two touchdowns feels like a bit much with Tennessee debuting a new offense led by UCLA transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar following the Nico Iamaleava saga, right? Syracuse added Notre Dame transfer signal caller Steve Angeli after spring camp and he'll be battling Rickie Collins in fall camp. This one should be more competitive than the opening line suggests."
We get it, this could end up being closer than the 12.5 points originally posted. However, losing Iamaleava and rocking with (most likely) Joey Aguilar isn't going to be enough for the Vols to suffer a shocking Week 1 defeat at the hands of the Orange.
No one knows what to expect from Aguilar this season, but with the system that Josh Heupel runs, the sky isn't going to be falling in Knoxville moving forward. While the numbers came with App State, it's tough to forget that Aguilar tossed for 3,003 yards and 23 TDs last season, though the 14 INTs were concerning.
Soon enough, this new-look Tennessee team will take the field and everyone will hope that not too much will change simply because Nico is gone. This isn't a one-man show. Fans should still feel confident the Vols will start the year off strong and leave Atlanta 1-0.