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Tennessee football predicted to finish in the bottom-half of the SEC

ByColton Pickard|
Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Chris Brazzell II (17) and wide receiver Bru McCoy (5) walk off the field after a failed third down conversion during the second half of the College Football Playoff first round game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Dec. 22, 2024. Ohio State won 42-17.
Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Chris Brazzell II (17) and wide receiver Bru McCoy (5) walk off the field after a failed third down conversion during the second half of the College Football Playoff first round game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Dec. 22, 2024. Ohio State won 42-17. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Week One is here, which means it will be a week full of predictions, projections, and hot takes as college football fans and talking heads prepare for the season ahead. 

Tennessee football is a team that has been in many conversations. Will they be an average team that wins seven or eight games, or could Joey Aguilar and the Vols surpass national expectations and win ten or more games in back-to-back seasons?

On3 Sports' Josh Pate, host of Josh Pate's College Football Show, shared his prediction for the SEC, placing Tennessee where most expect it, with eight wins, but ranking them in the bottom half of the SEC rankings.

While it's not too surprising that Tennessee comes in at 8-4 in the record prediction, it is surprising that the Vols fell to the bottom half of the SEC.

Tennessee is the fourth of six teams to go 8-4 in the SEC record prediction. The Vols sit behind LSU, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, and ahead of Ole Miss and Missouri. 

While that doesn't mean Tennessee is all but locked into a bottom-half conference finish, the prediction does give us insight into where Tennessee could stand in relation to its peers. 

Oklahoma coming in ahead of Tennessee indicates the Vols will lose their matchup with the Sooners. Losses to what I could assume against Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, and the Vols have their four losses. 

That means Tennessee needs to either beat one of its big three rivals or be perfect in the other nine games and not drop a game they should win. Either way, it could be a tough year for the Vols to find nine or ten wins while going on the road against Alabama and Florida. 

It all starts with Week One, though, and the Vols need to open the year with a Power Four win against Syracuse. The non-conference matchup is set to take place in Atlanta, Georgia, with kickoff at 12:00 PM ET.

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