While the AP Top 25 voters may not be super high on Tennessee football right now, that doesn't mean the feeling is shared across the country. Tennessee is riding high, as the Vols took down Syracuse in dominant fashion - forget about the Vols being underrated at No. 22 in the new rankings.
With how strong the Vols looked, it's feeling like a given that a win will be posted in Week 2 against East Tennessee State. Then, everyone will be ready to see the Vols go toe-to-toe with mighty Georgia at Neyland Stadium. That's a game people have had circled on their calendars for a long time.
Should the Vols start off the year 3-0 and take down the Bulldogs, might it be time to start thinking about a return trip to the College Football Playoff. Well, after just one game, ESPN came out with its new CFP predictions for this season and analysts Andrea Adelson and Bill Connelly have the Vols making it in. Hey, we're going to go ahead and agree with them there.
Alabama and Kalen DeBoer ranked higher than Tennessee makes zero sense
Tennessee is riding high after its dominant win over Syracuse in Week 1
The other ESPN analysts didn't have Tennessee in their Top 12, but we're not going to care too much about that right now. Instead, let's focus on the good vibes surrounding the team after the impressive open to the new campaign, particularly on offense.
We hope you're not tired of reading about Joey Aguilar, as we've got to keep showing him love. He tossed for 247 yards and three touchdowns, with his 73-yard connection with Braylon Staley still being talked about all over town.
Will more of the same be on display for the showdown with UGA in a couple weeks? Before we think too much about that, the Vols are going to want to keep things rocking against ETSU. Overlooking them in order to mentally prepare for Georgia would be a major mistake.
Luckily, Josh Heupel is in charge and he's not going to let his players do such a thing. Tennessee is going to want to get off to a flying start in Week 2 and keep things at a high level from start to finish. People need to take things week-to-week, but everyone sleeping on Tennessee is going to want to wake up, and quickly.