The analysts are down on the Volunteers.
Most analysts expected Tennessee to take a step back in 2025, but those expectations have dropped even further following the spring period. Of course, most of that is being driven by the departure of Nico Iamaleava.
Tennessee’s starting quarterback bolted to the transfer portal at the end of the spring, just 24 hours before the Orange and White Game. Josh Heupel was left scrambling with most top options already finding new homes in the winter. As things turned out, Tennessee and UCLA simply swapped quarterbacks, with Joey Aguilar landing in Knoxville.
The Appalachian State transfer will now battle true freshman George MacIntyre and redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger for the starting job this fall.
Additionally, Tennessee must replace nearly all of its receiving core, a workhorse back in Dylan Sampson, along with four starters up front on the offensive line. All of that coming after Tim Banks lost edge rusher James Pearce and a handful of interior defensive linemen to the NFL Draft. Star cornerback Jermod McCoy will also be battling back from a torn ACL.
The questions are plentiful and the SEC waits on no one — that’s probably why the Volunteers have fallen out of several preseason top 25 rankings over the past couple of weeks.
Way too early College Football top 25 rankings: Where Tennessee stands
ESPN (Schlabach): Unranked
Fox Sports (Klatt): Unranked
On3 (Pickell): No. 17
247Sports: Unranked
CBS Sports (Marcello): No. 20
Oof. There’s a very real possibility of Tennessee beginning the season unranked when they take to Atlanta to face Syracuse.
The SEC is loaded once again, led by Georgia and Texas. LSU is a trendy pick after a big offseason in the portal, while Alabama and South Carolina are hovering around the top ten. Improvements out of Florida and Oklahoma could move Tennessee all the way down to the No. 8 or No. 9 spot in the conference after a third place finish last season.
The 2025 Tennessee Volunteers certainly have a different feel to this at this point in the year. Expect that lack of expectations to be reflected during SEC Media Days in two months when the media reveals its projected order of finish.
Tennessee won’t be anyone’s trendy pick this fall, but that might be a nice change of pace for Heupel, who has dealt with big expectations since his breakout 2022 season.