College football analyst goes out on a limb with prediction for Tennessee Vols in 2024
With just a few weeks to go until the 2024 season gets underway, On3's JD Pickell is one of the only national college football analysts who seems to be sold on the Tennessee Vols. Earlier this week, Pickell predicted that Tennessee will go 10-2 this fall with losses to the Alabama Crimson Tide and the […]
With just a few weeks to go until the 2024 season gets underway, On3's JD Pickell is one of the only national college football analysts who seems to be sold on the Tennessee Vols.
Earlier this week, Pickell predicted that Tennessee will go 10-2 this fall with losses to the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs.
Pickell thinks a 10-2 record will be good enough to get Tennessee into the newly expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. He predicted this week that Tennessee will be the No. 11 seed in the playoff this season. And he has them taking on No. 6 seed Ohio State in the first round (which is predicted as a loss for the Volunteers).
(Interestingly, Pickell has five SEC teams reaching the playoff — Georgia, Ole Miss, Texas, Alabama, and Tennessee.)
"First year with Nico Iamaleava running the show, 10-2. I think if you offer any Tennessee fan that they take that tomorrow," said Pickell earlier this week. "10-2 means you’re probably competing for a College Football Playoff spot. It also means that Nico is for real. All the hype, all the pressure, all the anticipation of what he was going to be, the No. 1 recruit in 2023, lives up to it. His first year as the guy.”
The Vols obviously have their sights set on a national championship in 2024. But reaching the playoff in redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava's first season as a starter would be quite an accomplishment regardless of how the playoff plays out.
Tennessee has the talent to make a deep playoff run. As long as their key contributors stay healthy, the Vols will be as dangerous as anyone in 2024.
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