Tennessee ranks No. 88 in preseason rankings

[BeardedVol]

I don't think our overall schedule is as brutal as some think. Based off last yrs results, since it's all we can go by we play 3 elite teams, Ala, Ga and Auburn. We play a 7-6 W.Va at a Neutral site, 4-8 Florida, a 7 win UK team, a 7 win Mizzou team who didn't beat a single bowl eligible team, S.Car is the only other team we play with more than 7 wins last yr. Obviously this yrs results will be a more determining factor. But atleast right now I don't see W.Va winning more than 7, 8 at the most. They have 5-7 games that are very losable with 5 of those being on the road plus OU and TCU at home. Their D was worse than ours. UK wins 6 at the most and not sure they get that with breaking in a new QB, Mizzou has a 1ST time OC in Dooley and were winless vs teams with winning records, JP isn't losing to a bad Vandy team, Fla is in the same boat as us and has an even worse QB situation and it's in Neyland. S.Carol is definitely very losable playing there but they struggled and were lucky to beat us last yr, should have lost to La Tech and beat 1 ranked team at the time of play( NcSt). Then our 3 easy OOC wins. Not saying it's a bad schedule but top to bottom it's not a brutal one like A'M, LSU and Auburn have.

MHO, I don't see how we have less than 6 regular season wins at the absolute worst next year unless Pruitt turns out to be not a very good HC on game day.

3 OOC cupcakes, and at bare minimum we should be able to at least win 3 out of the WVA, Missouri, Florida, Kentucky, USCe, and Vandy games.

 

[gunner]

MHO, I don't see how we have less than 6 regular season wins at the absolute worst next year unless Pruitt turns out to be not a very good HC on game day.

3 OOC cupcakes, and at bare minimum we should be able to at least win 3 out of the WVA, Missouri, Florida, Kentucky, USCe, and Vandy games.

Agreed. I expect six wins this season but its possible to surprise someone and win a game or that they aren’t expected to win.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I don't think our overall schedule is as brutal as some think. Based off last yrs results, since it's all we can go by we play 3 elite teams, Ala, Ga and Auburn. We play a 7-6 W.Va at a Neutral site, 4-8 Florida, a 7 win UK team, a 7 win Mizzou team who didn't beat a single bowl eligible team, S.Car is the only other team we play with more than 7 wins last yr. Obviously this yrs results will be a more determining factor. But atleast right now I don't see W.Va winning more than 7, 8 at the most. They have 5-7 games that are very losable with 5 of those being on the road plus OU and TCU at home. Their D was worse than ours. UK wins 6 at the most and not sure they get that with breaking in a new QB, Mizzou has a 1ST time OC in Dooley and were winless vs teams with winning records, JP isn't losing to a bad Vandy team, Fla is in the same boat as us and has an even worse QB situation and it's in Neyland. S.Carol is definitely very losable playing there but they struggled and were lucky to beat us last yr, should have lost to La Tech and beat 1 ranked team at the time of play( NcSt). Then our 3 easy OOC wins. Not saying it's a bad schedule but top to bottom it's not a brutal one like A'M, LSU and Auburn have.

Yep, agreed.

Our schedule as a whole is not bad. It's just that run from Georgia to USCe that poses a real challenge. And we do get a bye after Georgia to reload a bit.

Having said that, last year's schedule was even more in our favor. Had the hardest games all spaced out with easier contests in between. And we utterly blew the chance.

So...strength of schedule is a factor, but having a team trained and ready to go out and kick butt, that's THE factor. Here's hoping we have that this year.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Agreed. I expect six wins this season but its possible to surprise someone and win a game or that they aren’t expected to win.

Right now, I'm thinking anything between 5 wins and 9 wins is in the very realistic range. Still a crap shoot kind of year, but not quite as unknowable as it was before we saw Pruitt & Co. at work.

 

[jasonvol18]

Seems pretty much exactly where we should expect to be this year. We didn’t win any big games last year and we don’t have any of the players who led us to big wins two years ago except maybe Jennings. It’s going to be ugly, though I’ll be plenty happy to be proven wrong.

We have our top 2 leading tacklers, 3 of the top 8 and 8 of the top 20 tacklers from the '16 season and 3 of the top 10 receiver's. We obviously don't have Dobb's, Kamara, Kelly, Malone, Barnett, Sutton or Gaulden but still some pieces.N ot to mention that team finished 4-4 after starting 5-0 and 2 losses to unranked teams. Plus we have a lot better coaching now. We have talent, albeit undeveloped, thanks to the previous staff. But top to bottom only Ala, Ga and Auburn have more highly rated players based off recruiting classes. We have 40+ players who were *4 on atleast 1 of the services. With good coaching there's no reason to not get atleast 6 wins and but really closer to 7-8. Anybody that watched us last year knows we don't have 4-8 talent nor does Vandy,UK,S.car,Mizzou or W.Va have more talent than us. TN/Fla have the same amount based off recruiting classes. Just like we all know Flor doesn't have 4 win talent either. Coaching was both of our issues. Realistically we should expect 7-5 or 8-4 and 4-4 in the SEC. That's 4 SEC wins without leaving the state. I'm going with SEC losses to Ga, Ala, Aub and at S.Car but even SCarol is winnable. But until we beat Muschamp, I am going with an L. That's without wearing orange goggles and being a Homer. Too many just base this yr off last yrs results and not looking beyond the surface. We were 2 playing from being 2-10 but was also 3 plays from being 7-5. That's where better coaching, being stronger, more disciplined and player development makes a difference this yr. I may look like a DA in December about how wrong I was but really don't believe I will be. Damn sure hope I'm not anyway.

 

[jasonvol18]

Yep, agreed.

Our schedule as a whole is not bad. It's just that run from Georgia to USCe that poses a real challenge. And we do get a bye after Georgia to reload a bit.

Having said that, last year's schedule was even more in our favor. Had the hardest games all spaced out with easier contests in between. And we utterly blew the chance.

So...strength of schedule is a factor, but having a team trained and ready to go out and kick butt, that's THE factor. Here's hoping we have that this year.

You're absolutely right. We didn't have 4-8 talent or a 4-8 type schedule. I would bet anything this staff would have beaten Vandy, S.Car, Fla and UK and gotten 8 wins. Very few staffs could have pulled off 4-8 with our roster and that schedule. Not to mention Ga Tech and UMass could easily have beaten us. Hell even S.Miss if they didn't set us up inside their 20 for 2 of our TD's. They outgained us but turnovers and penalties killed them.

I'm with you that Ga,Ala,Aub and S.car stretch is brutal, but the rest not sas much. Those other 8 games we don't even play a decent team at their stadium.

 

[AndyMizunogolfer]

The only way to fix the rankings is by winning. Until we get more W's than L's expect more of the same. I agree that we have greatly underachieved. Not just last year though. We are going on what 10 years of it now? Maybe a hard nosed tough love coach is the answer.

 

[gunner]

Right now, I'm thinking anything between 5 wins and 9 wins is in the very realistic range. Still a crap shoot kind of year, but not quite as unknowable as it was before we saw Pruitt & Co. at work.

JP, If the Vols win 9 games is with this roster and schedule,
It will be a better season than Butch Jones ever did with more.

IMO 9 wins equals the Citrus Bowl, 8 equals the Outback, 7 is the Gator, and 6 is the Music City Bowl.

 

[zeppelin128]

JP, If the Vols win 9 games is with this roster and schedule,
It will be a better season than Butch Jones ever did with more.

IMO 9 wins equals the Citrus Bowl, 8 equals the Outback, 7 is the Gator, and 6 is the Music City Bowl.

If we win 9 games this Fall that means Fulmer struck gold and we have a guy that can flat outcoach his peers.

 

[gunner]

If we win 9 games this Fall that means Fulmer struck gold and we have a guy that can flat outcoach his peers.

I think Pruitt is a winner and he will accept no less from his players, assistants and everyone else associated with the program. But, I’m not certain that he can win with this roster. It may be his third season until he wins 9 games or more.

 

[thehutch40]

Lol what a joke of a ranking. No way y’all are 88th in the nation. Not a damn chance. I imagine y’all will have some growing pains with the culture change and new schemes but y’all still have talent to win at least 5 easy with 3 being toss ups. As is, I think y’all end up with 7 wins, 8 if y’all keep keep WV under 28 pts

 

[secking]

It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. Starting out as the worst team in the league, end up top 6 imo.

 

[vol-un-tear]

Yep, agreed.

Our schedule as a whole is not bad. It's just that run from Georgia to USCe that poses a real challenge. And we do get a bye after Georgia to reload a bit.

Having said that, last year's schedule was even more in our favor. Had the hardest games all spaced out with easier contests in between. And we utterly blew the chance.

So...strength of schedule is a factor, but having a team trained and ready to go out and kick butt, that's THE factor. Here's hoping we have that this year.

Don’t count out Florida. They have been “brutal”. We also don’t play well against the West. That’s Auburn. Georgia and Alabama only played in the NC game last year. Think Bama has what? 11 in a row? SC owned us 2 years running now Kentucky is not a gimme and Vandy will play us like their hair is on fire. Our schedule is Brutal!

 

[dan4vols]

If we can get a win in Charlotte we'll be in the top 40. Add two wins to that top 35. If we can win against Florida in Knoxville, top 25.

 

[Orangeredblooded]

We would not win 10 of those games in 2017 or 2018 with our soft team.

Does ranking really matter for us right now? We aren’t sniffing the top 25 at the end of 2018 anyway. We’re irrelevant.

Whatever happened to let’s wait and see before we declare “we’re irrelevant “ for 2018? Sure, 2017 turned out that way, but good grief, let’s see the team play a down before we go down that road.

 

[VolEngineer]

I think I've said it before but I believe we will be ranked at some point next season. If we beat West Virginia then I think we'll beat Florida as well and if we're 4-0 going into Georgia I think we'll be ranked 17-25. After that I think we will go unranked after losing to Georgia, auburn and alabama, only to jump back in it around Kentucky time. I know some will disagree, and that's fine, but if we win against West Virginia, I think we go 8-4. I think we lose to the above three and Missouri and come out of the season ranked top 25 again.

 

[VolEngineer]

If we can get a win in Charlotte we'll be in the top 40. Add two wins to that top 35. If we can win against Florida in Knoxville, top 25.

Didn't see this before I posted, but I completely agree. Heck, West Virginia may be ranked when we play them and we may jump out early.

 

[TitanicVolz]

Respect is earned not given,least that's what I was always taught...

 

[VFL-82-JP]

If we're ranked at the end of the season, that means two very good things happened:

(1) Our lads posted a record at or near the top of their potential this season, 8-4 or 9-3.

(2) We weren't badly blown out in our 3 or 4 losses during the brutal October run. Even at 8-4, don't think we end up ranked with a couple of 45-7 and 41-0 results in the resume.

So if we win 8 or 9, and play the hardest teams close, absolutely, could see us ranked at the end. And a very good start to CJP's tenure that would be.

Go Vols!

 

[billford]

Honestly probably 6-6 7-5 something like that. I had no faith in the last coaching staff.