Diego Pavia gives Tennessee Vols bulletin-board material ahead of Vandy battle

What can we expect out of the Tennessee Volunteers this weekend going up against Vanderbilt? Well, for sure a passionate team ready to keep their College Football Playoff dreams alive. With a win, Tennessee will be in and there's a strong chance it will host a first-round game.

On the other side of the field, Vanderbilt is already headed to a bowl game, but the team would love nothing more than to spoil things for the Vols. That's what stud quarterback Diego Pavia surely has on his mind ahead of kickoff.

Pavia was asked about Saturday's huge contest and he didn't hold back with what he had to say. He compared the Vandy-Tennessee rivalry to the one he was familiar with between New Mexico and New Mexico State. While we'll respectfully say this one is a bit bigger than that, Pavia is ready to ruin things for Tennessee, something the Vols should use as motivation:

Diego Pavia is hoping to ruin the season for Tennessee and Josh Heupel

So, Pavia is treating this like life or death? This just goes to show how passionate he is about this contest, his first in the rivalry. While he's pretty dang motivated ahead of kickoff, we don't have to tell you that the entire Vols locker room is feeling the same way.

There's so much on the line for this squad. Tennessee is ranked No. 8 in the new College Football Playoff rankings. The team is projected to face Georgia in the first round of the CFP for now, but that's going to change over the next couple of weeks.

Again, though, the season will end with a loss to Vandy. Yes, Tennessee will still play in a bowl game regardless of what happens in Nashville, but that's not what the players are focused on. What they are focused on is getting to the CFP and making a ton of noise. Pavia wants to prevent that from happening, but he could be in for a reality check soon.