Things have been nearly perfect for the Tennessee Volunteers this campaign. Outside of a disappointing loss to Arkansas on Oct. 5, the Vols are 6-1 on the year and the last time we saw them on the gridiron, they were taking down Alabama.
The Vols had a bye last week and they're currently ranked the No. 7 team in the country. However, not everyone is as high on Tennessee and fans would like. In a new piece projecting the CFP after Week 9, ESPN has the Vols checking in at No. 12. Before the bye week, though, they were at No. 8 in the projections. How is this possible?
ESPN has Tennessee at No. 12 in its latest CFP Top 12 projections
"Even in its best win (against Alabama), Tennessee has shown vulnerabilities, particularly on offense and with turnovers and penalties against the Tide. The Vols also needed overtime to beat an average-at-best Florida team."ESPN's Heather Dinich
Sure, we get the loss to Arkansas stings and the Vols almost blew it against Florida, but come on, No. 12? What makes things a bit more maddening in this case is that Tennessee has BYU, Boise State, Indiana and Clemson ahead of them.
You could make the argument that Tennessee should be ahead of all of those teams. The statement win over Alabama meant the world to the fanbase, but it's not enough for the Vols to get the respect they deserve. Will this be some bulletin-board material for Josh Heupel and his players? Potentially.
Come this weekend, Tennessee will be hosting Kentucky at Neyland Stadium for what should be a fun contest. Tennessee will be in its 'Dark Mode' uniforms, which took over social media with the program's announcement. The Wildcats have an upset in mind, but Tennessee will be ready to take care of business. Should a dominant victory be posted by Heupel's players, we sure hope ESPN will take notice.