Tennessee football is not viewed as a top-ten team by many, but Pro Football Focus has Tennessee ranked inside the top ten in its preseason power rankings.
That could place Tennessee on the verge of making another College Football Playoff birth if everything goes right this season.
PFF ranks Tennessee as the No. 10 team in the country heading into the season, and it could largely be because of Tennessee's strength of schedule. Of PFF's top ten teams, Tennessee has the easiest schedule, opening the door for Tennessee to still win a lot of games despite its wild offseason.
The Vols' strength of schedule is ranked as the 55th hardest in the country. PFF has given Tennessee 8.03 projected wins with an 88% chance to make a bowl game and a 26% chance to make the College Football Playoff.
Unsurprisingly, Ohio State is at the top of the preseason power rankings with 9.4 projected wins, a 62% chance to make the CFP, and 9.92% chance to win the national championship.
Tennessee sits behind four other SEC schools, including No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Georgia, No. 7 Alabama, and No. 8 Ole Miss. A few other SEC schools are inside the top 20, looking to break through and jump the Vols, including No. 11 South Carolina, No. 14 LSU, No. 16 Missouri, and No. 18 Florida.
Josh Heupel must determine who will lead Tennessee this year following a tumultuous offseason that saw Nico Iamaleava return home to UCLA.
Between transfer Joey Aguilar, redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger, and true freshman George MacIntyre, one of them will earn the starting quarterback job with expectations to win at least eight games this Fall.
Despite the quarterback controversy, Tennessee has several key players returning to help ease the QB transition. Between returning receivers, a strong offensive line core brought in through the transfer portal, and hopefully another dominant defense, the Vols could make another CFP run if the cards fall in the Vols' favor.
Tennessee's first game is set for August 30 with a Power Four matchup against Syracuse in Atlanta, Georgia, for the Chick-fil-A Kick-Off Game. This will be Tennessee's first test of the season and could set expectations for the rest of the year.