{"id":14078,"date":"2023-08-19T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-19T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=14078"},"modified":"2023-08-19T11:30:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-19T16:30:00","slug":"espn-lays-out-the-best-case-worst-case-scenarios-for-tennessee-football-this-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/espn-lays-out-the-best-case-worst-case-scenarios-for-tennessee-football-this-season\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN lays out the best case, worst case scenarios for Tennessee football this season"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ceiling for Tennessee football in 2023 is a trip to the College Football Playoff, according to ESPN<\/a>. And the floor for the Vols this season? Eight wins to go with a handful of key losses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ESPN this week laid out the best case and worst case scenarios for each team in its preseason top 25<\/a>. Tennessee came in No. 11 in the rankings, one spot behind where the Vols were voted in the USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll<\/a> and one spot ahead of where they were voted in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tennessee is coming off an 11-win season, its first in 21 years, and a flirtation with the College Football Playoffs. The Vols started the season 8-0 and were ranked No. 1 in the first CFP Top 25 of the season on November 1, but stumbled with a pair of November losses at Georgia and South Carolina.<\/p>\n

\u2018Their season could vary wildly depending on they fare in the Swamp\u2019<\/h2>\n

ESPN\u2019s Chris Low<\/a><\/strong> detailed why the upside for these Vols is to reach college football\u2019s final four.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Vols would have been in the playoff a year ago had it not been for the November debacle in Columbia where South Carolina won in a 63-38 rout,\u201d Low wrote<\/a>. \u201cSo Josh Heupel\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> club wasn\u2019t too far off in just his second season, as Tennessee won 11 games for the first time since the 2001 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite losing\u00a0(Hendon) Hooker<\/a><\/strong> and some other key players, Heupel thinks this will be the deepest and most talented roster he has had, and on defense, he anticipates the Vols being able to play more players.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTennessee gets Georgia at home in the next-to-last game of the season,\u201d Low added<\/a>, \u201cso there\u2019s a chance the SEC Eastern Division title could be on the line that Nov. 18 day in Knoxville.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the Vols face Georgia in Knoxville, though, they have to go to Gainesville to open the SEC schedule at Florida on September 16, host South Carolina on September 30 and Texas A&M on November 14 and go to Alabama on October 21. Tennessee goes to Kentucky on October 28, too.<\/p>\n

Countdown to Kickoff: Tennessee vs. Virginia, September 2, Noon ET, ABC<\/h2>\n

Losses to Florida, A&M, Alabama, Georgia, on top of a loss in a bowl game, would leave Tennessee with an 8-5 record, which was the worst-case scenario laid out by Low<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though Tennessee avoids a stout non-conference test,\u201d he wrote, \u201cthe SEC schedule tilts against the Vols this season with trips to Florida, Alabama and Kentucky. This is the most excitement surrounding the start of a Tennessee football season in two decades, and the Vols aren\u2019t going to catch anybody by surprise starting the season ranked so highly and with Heupel\u2019s offense putting up record-setting numbers a year ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the offense falls off some with Joe Milton<\/a><\/strong> at the helm, is the defense good enough to make up the difference? The pivotal game is Florida. The Vols haven\u2019t won in Gainesville since 2003. Their season could vary wildly depending on they fare in the Swamp.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post ESPN lays out the best case, worst case scenarios for Tennessee football this season<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ceiling for Tennessee football in 2023 is a trip to the College Football Playoff,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14078\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}