What’s up next for Tennessee.
Tennessee has hit the bye week sitting at 4-1 through five weeks of the 2023 college football season. The Volunteers have taken a step back from last year’s offensive output, but Josh Heupel’s program is still operating at a high level. That much is proven by Tennessee’s standing in Bill Connelly’s latest S&P+ rankings.
The Volunteers check in at 15th overall, coming off of a 21 point victory over South Carolina (41st). Tennessee has the tenth ranked offense, per the metric, along with the 32nd ranked defense in the FBS.
Starting next week, Tennessee’s schedule really gets going. Over the next three games, Tennessee will face three top 21 teams, according to the metric this week. The Volunteers will host Texas A&M on October 14th, then head to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama. Road trips to top-30 teams Kentucky and Missouri also remain, of course along with a home game against a suddenly shaky Georgia team.
Tennessee has no room for error if they want to contend for the SEC East, thanks to that flat performance down in The Swamp. Florida is ranked 34th in the S&P+ rankings this week, for reference.
You can see where the rest of Tennessee’s opponents rank in the metric below, along with their specific ranking on both sides of the ball.
Tennessee’s remaining opponents, ranked by S&P+
4. Georgia (11th offense, 5th defense)
5. Alabama (13th offense, 9th defense)
11. Texas A&M (28th offense, 4th defense)
21. Kentucky (53rd offense, 10th defense)
27. Missouri (33rd offense, 18th defense)
83. Vanderbilt (58th offense, 108th defense)
132. UConn (131st offense, 116th defense)