The Tennessee Vols exceeded expectations by finishing with a 7-6 record in Josh Heupel's first season leading the program (and they were a bad call away from finishing 8-5…thanks to the terrible Music City Bowl referees).

Most preseason predictions for Tennessee had the Vols finishing 4-8 or 5-7, with a few optimistic 6-6 predictions tossed in.

While Heupel was obviously happy to have a better season than folks expected, it now means that expectations in 2022 will be higher than they would've been.

Anything worse than a 7-6 record in 2022 would be a colossal failure. And really, 7-6 would be a bit of a disappointment. The Vols need to finish at least one game better in 2022 to show real progress.

It's still early for preseason predictions, but that isn't stopping some national publications from taking a look ahead to 2022.

247Sports recently predicted the records for every SEC team in 2022. And they have the Vols finishing with an 8-4 record next season.

Here's what they're saying about Tennessee in 2022:

Josh Heupel has Tennessee headed in the right direction after a better-than-expected first season and with quarterback Hendon Hooker returning, the Volunteers should be able to finish at least a game or two better in Year 2. Revenge against Pitt in Week 2 will be sweet, but somehow, the Volunteers need to emerge from the Florida-Kentucky-South Carolina trifecta at least 2-1 to get to eight wins next fall.

The 8-4 prediction isn't a surprise. I think that will be the standard prediction for Tennessee next season. But the route that 247Sports has the Vols taking to get to 8-4 is a bit puzzling.

247Sports is predicting that Tennessee will lose to LSU, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina.

That means they have UT beating Florida for the first time since 2016, but losing to a South Carolina team that they beat by 25 points last season.

I'm not sure about that. I could buy a loss to Florida before I could buy a loss to South Carolina.

Of course, predictions are meaningless — especially in January — but it's still interesting to see how the national media views the Volunteers ahead of the 2022 season.

Featured image via Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports/Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports