The Tennessee football team is back in action this weekend against New Mexico State, but we won't blame you if you're already looking ahead to next weekend against Florida down at The Swamp. With the greatest of respect for New Mexico State, the Vols should cruise to a win.
Josh Heupel did everything possible to prevent Ohio State flipping a 4-star commit
However, there are already plenty of nerves for the Florida game. Even if the Gators have fired Billy Napier, Florida has dominated Tennessee in Gainesville for a little while. Despite that, the Vegas oddsmakers don't seem to care about that, as the Vols have opened at 5.5-point favorites over DJ Lagway and Co.
Tennessee has opened as a 5.5-point favorite against Florida down at The Swamp
On one hand, this feels like a bit of a surprise. The last time Tennessee went on the road and took down Florida, it was back in 2003. That year, 'In Da Club' by 50 Cent was No. 1 for the Billboard Top 100 - so yeah, it's been a while.
This year feels like the stars have aligned for Tennessee to post a needed win. Things have been a mess for Florida, leading to Napier indeed getting fired last month. Moving forward, it's up in the air if Lagway, a former 5-star signee, will start vs. the Vols. He was benched in the lopsided loss to Kentucky, which still has people talking.
As for Tennessee, Joey Aguilar has been so much fun to watch this year and despite Tennessee needing a miracle to reach the CFP, a 9-3 campaign is still very much in the works. In order for that to happen, Tennessee will need to close out the campaign with three straight wins.
First up is New Mexico State and then Florida and Vanderbilt will follow. The Vols are going to want to get back on track vs NMSU, then shift their focus to the Gators and Vandy. Can you imagine a scenario where a win over Florida is posted and then UT keeps Vandy out of the CFP with a win over Diego Pavia to wrap the season up? Yeah, we'd sign up for that any day of the week.