Maybe. But from this point on, it's more about teams in front of us losing while we hold serve and continue to win. More than any bump we'll get from Florida or LSU specifically.
For instance, this coming weekend, there are three potential upsets for teams above us:
-- #11 Michigan State could lose to unranked Washington
-- #12 BYU has to go to #25 Oregon's house
-- #13 Miami goes on the road against a pissed-off #24 A&M
Each of those three upsets, if they happen, would almost automatically bump us up one spot, assuming we handle Akron in the dominating fashion we should.
And I would imagine at least one of the three will happen.
So we are likely to be somewhere between #12 and #14 when we face Florida. Who will themselves benefit in the same way, assuming they beat USF this coming Saturday.
Florida could also benefit from #16 NC State's game against Texas Tech, should the Red Raiders pull an upset. So Florida could be ranked between #14 and #17 when they come to Knoxville.
#12 Tennessee vs #15 Florida would be nice.
All that before we face either FL or LSU. All from "beating Akron." Which just proves the point...it's not about beating Akron, it's about winning (against whoever) while those ahead of us lose.
Go Vols!