1. vs. BYU (Sept. 7)
Counting this as a gimme victory? Well, ask Arizona and Wisconsin about that. The Cougars beat both of those Power 5 opponents on the road last season. BYU quarterback Zach Wilson returns. This should be a challenging matchup and one Tennessee needs to win because of the difficult start to the SEC slate that awaits.
2. vs. Mississippi State (Oct. 12)
Tennessee has a brutal five-game SEC stretch featuring games against Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Alabama and South Carolina. Being the middle game of that quintet, this one is key. It’s a chance for Tennessee to stem the tide if it loses to Florida and Georgia. Mississippi State lost much of the star power from last year’s talented defense and also must replace its quarterback, making this is a favorable interdivision draw.
3. vs. South Carolina (Oct. 26)
Will Muschamp is 7-0 against Tennessee across stints as the coach at South Carolina and Florida. The Vols’ losses to the Gamecocks the past two years have been by a combined nine points. The media picked South Carolina to finish fourth in the SEC East and UT to place fifth. So, again, there’s not much separating these teams.
4. at Florida (Sept. 21)
Dan Mullen won 10 games in his first season as Florida’s coach. Jeremy Pruitt won half that many.
That’s deflating for the Vols. So was a 47-21 loss to the rival Gators at Neyland Stadium last year. A road victory against Florida would be a dynamite way to start Tennessee’s SEC schedule. But, if not a victory, then Tennessee at least needs a competitive game to show the gap between it and the SEC East’s top teams is shrinking.
5. vs. Vanderbilt (Nov. 30)
Can you imagine what would happen if Tennessee lost to Vanderbilt for a fourth straight season, especially if a loss kept the Vols out of a bowl game, like last season? It might become a bad night to be a mattress in the streets of Knoxville. Tennessee would like to dial back the clock to the ‘90s, but a more realistic short-term goal is returning to the days when UT could count on beating Vanderbilt.