Skip to main content
All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee's 5-spot drop in the AP Poll will mean nothing if a win over Kentucky arrives

This is a must-win game for the Vols once week 10 gets here.
ByBraulio Perez
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on Reddit
Google Discover
Tennessee defensive back Kayin Lee (14), Tennessee coach Josh Heupel and Tennessee linebacker Arion Carter (7) after a college football game between Tennessee and Arkansas at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark., on Oct. 10, 2026.
Tennessee defensive back Kayin Lee (14), Tennessee coach Josh Heupel and Tennessee linebacker Arion Carter (7) after a college football game between Tennessee and Arkansas at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark., on Oct. 10, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The anger is still there for a lot of people after Tennessee choked away the game against South Carolina, resulting in a 27-24 loss in Columbia. However, with the BYE here, Josh Heupel will take the extra rest to get his group fully healthy, while it's also time to hit the film room and clean up the mistakes that haunted UT in Week 8.

And once Week 10 against Kentucky arrives, the Vols will be hosting the Wildcats ranked as the No. 16 team in the country. With the AP Top 25 poll just dropping, you knew the Vols were going to take a bit of a hit. Is No. 16 that bad? Hey, it could have been much worse here.

As for Will Stein and his players, Kentucky is coming off a win over Vanderbilt to improve to 7-1 on the year. With that, the Wildcats are ranked No. 9, and a potential upset of a Top 10 team will be on the way for the Vols come Nov. 7. What more could the locker room ask for?

No. 16 Tennessee will be facing a must-win game against No. 9 Kentucky in Week 10

The room for error is now at a minimum for Tennessee for the rest of the campaign. Now sitting at 6-2, a third loss on the year would kill any hopes of the College Football Playoff. Had the Vols taken care of business against South Carolina, they would have had a 60 percent chance to reach the CFP, per the ESPN broadcast on Saturday. That number has since dropped to 23 percent.

As you're probably fully aware of by now, Tennessee's mental lapses were the main reason the Vols suffered the heartbreaking loss to South Carolina. In total, 12 penalties for 90 yards were recorded. The lack of discipline had Heupel pretty dang annoyed after the final whistle, which is totally understandable.

Looking ahead to early November, there's simply no way that a team as good as Kentucky is going to let the Vols shoot themselves in the foot and not take full advantage of it. In previous years, the Wildcats were not a well-coached team with Mark Stoops running the show in Lexington. It gave Vols fans not much to worry about when facing UK and Tennessee has delivered wins in eight of the last 10 games against the Wildcats.

Despite that, the team morale has totally flipped for UK, with Stein injecting new belief into the entire program. This is something that Heupel, Jim Knowles, and the rest of the coaching staff is going to be quite aware of. George MacIntyre, assuming he starts, will have to be at his best.

The entire defense will need to fly to the ball and not let Kentucky get into any kind of a rhythm. Few teams have had success doing that this fall. Maybe Tennessee can rise to the occasion, but it won't be easy. There will be no excuses, though. If Tennessee wants to still be playing once the CFP arrives, a win over Kentucky HAS to get posted. And if that happens, no one will give a darn about this new No. 16 ranking.

Add us as a preferred source on Google
Home/Vols Football