Way too early 2020 Schedule

#1
goldvol

goldvol

VolNation's Lesser Poobah
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#1
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With it being New Year's Eve, let's take a moment to look ahead to 2020. At first glance, this is one of the most promising schedules we could have drawn up. I know, I know: Oklahoma on the road in Norman.

However, looking past that, there are 4 key games to next year we would all love to win in order of importance (to me): Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Oklahoma.
All of these games have either a weaker opponent the week before, or comes after the bye week. We get Furman before Florida, Charlotte before OK, and Kentucky before Georgia. Our bye comes before Alabama. Also, Alabama has 3 SEC west games immediately before playing us. Another note is that both Florida and Alabama are at Neyland.

Concerning Florida and Georgia, they dont have a cakewalk through the SEC West. Florida takes on LSU and Ole Miss, while Georgia has to get through Alabama and Auburn! So even an early season loss to Florida doesn't completely knock us out of contention for the East.

We also get the absolute weakest SEC West opponent we could have asked for: Arkansas. They won an astounding 2 games this year. It will be interesting to see what Sam Pittman can do, but I don't expect a miracle in year 1 from them. I dont remember the last time we got lucky in that regard, but maybe you can remind me.

Another key to me is instead of getting Missouri, Kentucky, Vandy all at the end of the season, these games are more spread out through the season. In general over the last decade, we have a terrible October, feel like the season is over, then cruise through November generating optimism for the next year. With this new schedule, I feel like we will have a better record earlier in the season than we're used to having. This will in effect give us a more positive perception of the program during the year. It will also make the important games, like Georgia, more meaningful since we could be in the SEC East hunt still in the middle of November.

Except for Florida 2001, I don't remember having as big of a game (against the big three) as late in the season as we get to play Georgia.
Admittedly, I am not a sunshine pumper. Before the decade of misery, the 2010's, I used to be the most optimistic guy in the state. But, I am excited for how this is laid out.

Let's hear your thoughts about the schedule, and it's ok to be optimistic on the cusp of the New Year. Let hope the 2020's will be Tennessee's new Decade of Dominance!
And please, be safe tonight!
 
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#2
#2
And, I will lay even money right now that we will win at least one of Oklahoma, Georgia, Alabama, or Florida. If we pick off one of Alabama, Georgia, or Florida, we will be in the race for the SEC East in November 2020.

Bonus Question: if you could improve the schedule above for 2020, what would you switch around to help Tennessee?
 
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#3
#3
Well the obvious 3 automatic losses are Bama, Florida and Georgia. OU could be interesting. While at first glance one might just say well it’s OU and they are a juggernaut. But I don’t know. They will be breaking in a new QB. Now most expect Rattler to be the better passer than Hurts but we don’t know for sure.

Lamb will be gone. Yes the are loaded at WR but I believe our defense will be better. And that’s what will be the key to that game, defense. OU doesn’t play good defense. Our offense isn’t anything close to world beaters but I do think our offense will be a little better even after losing JJ and MC. I think if we can play up to our potential, we can get a close win.

I think we should win at least 8 games. 9 is a possibility if we play up to our potential. It’s going to be interesting to play UGA later in the year. I still think we lose but hopefully we can start being more competitive.
 
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#7
#7
Bama and Florida at home is helpful and finally breaking up the gauntlet is great. I believe Tennessee will be the surprise team nobody saw coming next season.
 
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#8
#8
TlM said:
Start 6-0 with a bye going into Bama ranked in the Top 10.
Click to expand...
I think Tennessee will be 5-1 going into the Alabama game and will be ranked somewhere between #10-#15


2020 Tennessee Vols 9-3 and 5-3 in the SEC and ranked between #10-#15

Charlotte W
@ Oklahoma W
Furman W
Florida L
Missouri W
@South Carolina W
Alabama L
@Arkansas W
Kentucky W
@Georgia L
Troy W
@Vanderbilt W
 
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#9
#9
BigOrangeTrain said:
Well the obvious 3 automatic losses are Bama, Florida and Georgia. OU could be interesting. While at first glance one might just say well it’s OU and they are a juggernaut. But I don’t know. They will be breaking in a new QB. Now most expect Rattler to be the better passer than Hurts but we don’t know for sure.

Lamb will be gone. Yes the are loaded at WR but I believe our defense will be better. And that’s what will be the key to that game, defense. OU doesn’t play good defense. Our offense isn’t anything close to world beaters but I do think our offense will be a little better even after losing JJ and MC. I think if we can play up to our potential, we can get a close win.

I think we should win at least 8 games. 9 is a possibility if we play up to our potential. It’s going to be interesting to play UGA later in the year. I still think we lose but hopefully we can start being more competitive.
Click to expand...

No offense, but I don't subscribe to obvious automatic losses. Those are next years games, and we haven't lost them yet.
 
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#15
#15
Little different flavor schedule. November just weird. Georgia in November, and Senior day against a non-SEC team. I hope the fans can get the energy up to bid fairwell to the Seniors against Troy. I know, but the thread title admits it's way too early, especially to worry about the seniors.
 
#17
#17
ptcarter said:
Little different flavor schedule. November just weird. Georgia in November, and Senior day against a non-SEC team. I hope the fans can get the energy up to bid fairwell to the Seniors against Troy. I know, but the thread title admits it's way too early, especially to worry about the seniors.
Click to expand...

Hey, interesting contribution. I hadnt thought specifically about that aspect. If we are still in contention for the East like I think we could be, I guarantee Neyland will still be loud and rowdy for that sendoff!
 
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#20
#20
goldvol said:
...we would all love to win in order of importance (to me): Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Oklahoma.
!
Click to expand...
I like your post except for the line above. For me, the order would be UGA, UF, Bama and OU. Mainly because UGA is the team to beat in the East. UF is next and then Bama. I dislike Bama most of all, but if the goal is to win the SECE, we need to beat UGA. I, too, used to be one of the more optimistic posters before the last decade. I think 7 regular season wins is very likely, 8 most likely, 9 very possible, and 10 would be fantastic. That's about as optimistic as I'm willing to allow myself to get. While we may very well upset one of the top 4 on our schedule (because 3 of those 4 will be led by a 1st year starter @ QB), we might get upset by USC, Mizzou or UK.
 
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#21
#21
ptcarter said:
Little different flavor schedule. November just weird. Georgia in November, and Senior day against a non-SEC team. I hope the fans can get the energy up to bid fairwell to the Seniors against Troy. I know, but the thread title admits it's way too early, especially to worry about the seniors.
Click to expand...
I think we’ve recently had non-SEC opponents on senior day. We played Missouri a couple times.
 
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#22
#22
LAVol1 said:
I like your post except for the line above. For me, the order would be UGA, UF, Bama and OU. Mainly because UGA is the team to beat in the East. UF is next and then Bama. I dislike Bama most of all, but if the goal is to win the SECE, we need to beat UGA. I, too, used to be one of the more optimistic posters before the last decade. I think 7 regular season wins is very likely, 8 most likely, 9 very possible, and 10 would be fantastic. That's about as optimistic as I'm willing to allow myself to get. While we may very well upset one of the top 4 on our schedule, we might get upset by USC, Mizzou or UK.
Click to expand...
South Carolina,Missouri and Kentucky wont beat Tennessee in 2020. I think South Carolina goes 5-7,Kentucky goes 7-5 finishing 3-5 in the SEC again and Missouri will go 4-8.
 
#23
#23
goldvol said:
View attachment 250367


With it being New Year's Eve, let's take a moment to look ahead to 2020. At first glance, this is one of the most promising schedules we could have drawn up. I know, I know: Oklahoma on the road in Norman.

However, looking past that, there are 4 key games to next year we would all love to win in order of importance (to me): Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Oklahoma.
All of these games have either a weaker opponent the week before, or comes after the bye week. We get Furman before Florida, Charlotte before OK, and Kentucky before Georgia. Our bye comes before Alabama. Also, Alabama has 3 SEC west games immediately before playing us. Another note is that both Florida and Alabama are at Neyland.

Concerning Florida and Georgia, they dont have a cakewalk through the SEC West. Florida takes on LSU and Ole Miss, while Georgia has to get through Alabama and Auburn! So even an early season loss to Florida doesn't completely knock us out of contention for the East.

We also get the absolute weakest SEC West opponent we could have asked for: Arkansas. They won an astounding 2 games this year. It will be interesting to see what Sam Pittman can do, but I don't expect a miracle in year 1 from them. I dont remember the last time we got lucky in that regard, but maybe you can remind me.

Another key to me is instead of getting Missouri, Kentucky, Vandy all at the end of the season, these games are more spread out through the season. In general over the last decade, we have a terrible October, feel like the season is over, then cruise through November generating optimism for the next year. With this new schedule, I feel like we will have a better record earlier in the season than we're used to having. This will in effect give us a more positive perception of the program during the year. It will also make the important games, like Georgia, more meaningful since we could be in the SEC East hunt still in the middle of November.

Except for Florida 2001, I don't remember having as big of a game (against the big three) as late in the season as we get to play Georgia.
Admittedly, I am not a sunshine pumper. Before the decade of misery, the 2010's, I used to be the most optimistic guy in the state. But, I am excited for how this is laid out.

Let's hear your thoughts about the schedule, and it's ok to be optimistic on the cusp of the New Year. Let hope the 2020's will be Tennessee's new Decade of Dominance!
And please, be safe tonight!
Click to expand...



VOLS will beat Bama next year.
 
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#24
#24
We lose key playmakers. I predict 7-5 best and 5-7 worst. Need another year of recruiting and experience before being able to compete. Also have to get better than 7th in SEC recruiting. Hope I am wrong, but must be realistic.
 
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