While some people may be a bit down in the dumps after the Tennessee football loss to Oklahoma last weekend, don't let it take away from your focus that the future is looking bright for Josh Heupel and the Vols. Should UT go on to win its next three games, a 9-3 season will be posted.
Tennessee and Josh Heupel are missing this former coach now more than ever
Hey, not bad at all and that's something a lot of us would have gladly taken had it been offered before the start of the new season. Moving forward, Heupel is also going to push to keep on recording big wins out on the recruiting trail.
Tennessee is hoping to finish with a Top 10 class and having four 5-star commits is going to help things out there. On top of that, the Vols are working to close things out in style. One area Heupel can sell recruits on is just how popular Tennessee is across the country. Need further proof of that? Here ya go:
Tennessee has been the third most-watched college football team in the entire country this season:
— Vol Report (@AllVolReport) November 6, 2025
1. Alabama – 7.91 million
2. Georgia – 7.63 million
3. Tennessee - 7.03 million
via @On3sports , Nielsen pic.twitter.com/mHahQx4Sjf
Tennessee football has been one of the most-watched teams in the country this year
According to a new report from On3, Tennessee has had more than 7 million people watch their games this season, which is only behind Alabama and Georgia. That's a whole lot of SEC love at the top of the list, which isn't a surprise.
This also emphasizes just how much support the program has. People love nothing more than making their way to Neyland Stadium on Saturday for some gridiron action. However, if fans can't make their way to town, then they'll settle for watching a game from home on their couch.
Think a die-hard Tennessee fan is going to miss Joey Aguilar, Arion Carter, Mike Matthews and others in action once kickoff gets underway? Not a chance. As we already alluded to, this is something that Heupel and his staff can absolutely bring up to recruits.
Imagine being a 17-year-old kid and you find out that the school that's highly interested in you has millions of people tuned into their games throughout the season? Oh, and more than 100,000 people pack Neyland for home games during the campaign.
That's an easy sell for Heupel and it's surely going to be something that turns heads as we get closer to the Early Signing Period getting here. Yes, the '26 class is stacked already, but there are still some big fish Heupel is after. Let's see if he can add more high-profile verbals in the near future.