Could the Tennessee Vols crash the College Football Playoff in 2022?

Probably not if we're being realistic.

But it's not quite as absurd as you might think.

And Vols head coach Josh Heupel knows that as well as anyone.

That's because Heupel was part of one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history at Oklahoma. And that turnaround has a lot of parallels with this year's Tennessee team.

Heupel arrived at Oklahoma in 1999 as a transfer quarterback to play for a new Sooners head coach in Bob Stoops.

Oklahoma went 7-5 in Stoops' first season leading the program (OU went 12-22 the three years before Stoops arrived). The Sooners lost by double-digits to arch-rival Texas. They also lost to Notre Dame and Ole Miss (in the Independence Bowl).

In Stoops' first season, Oklahoma's offense improved from No. 101 in the nation to No. 6 in the nation.

A year later, Stoops and the Sooners went 13-0 and won the 2000 BCS national championship. Heupel was the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy race after being relatively unknown before arriving at Oklahoma just two years prior.

The Vols' situation right now is a lot like that situation at Oklahoma entering the 2000 season.

Tennessee is coming off a 7-6 season (after going 16-19 the previous three years) in Heupel's first year at the helm. That 7-6 season in 2021 featured a transfer quarterback in Hendon Hooker that wasn't well known before leaving Virginia Tech for Rocky Top.

Additionally, the Vols' offense improved from No. 109 in the nation in 2020 to No. 7 in the nation last year (and UT lost by double digits to arch-rival Florida and they lost to Ole Miss).

The Vols will enter the 2022 season with a second-year head coach in Heupel and a second-year transfer quarterback who could be a Heisman Trophy finalist in Hooker — just like Oklahoma in 2000.

• Second-year head coach.
• 7 wins the previous season.
• Second-year transfer quarterback.
• Greatly improved offense after several lackluster seasons.

Does this mean that Tennessee is destined to reach the playoff?

Not at all. Again, it's probably not happening. But the precedent is there. And Heupel has seen it up close (that might be why he always refuses to put limits on what the Vols can accomplish).

The Athletic's Andy Staples actually laid out this week what it would take for Tennessee to reach the playoff.

And it's a daunting task.

"To compete for the SEC title or a CFP berth, the Volunteers would have to go 10-0 against not-Alabama and not-Georgia, split with Alabama and Georgia, then beat (probably) Alabama in Atlanta," wrote Staples.

Essentially they're going to have to play Alabama twice and Georgia once and they're going to have to win two out of three against them. While also taking care of business against Pittsburgh, Florida, and LSU. The schedule isn't exactly set up for the Vols to go 12-1 with a win in the SEC Championship game.

But championships aren't won in August. And the Vols wouldn't be taking the field this fall if they didn't think they could beat those teams.

I'm not expecting some wild magical season from Tennessee in 2022. If they can just get to 10 wins it will be an incredible achievement. But history tells us that the idea of the Vols reaching the playoff in Heupel's second season isn't nearly as unachievable as some folks might think.

Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK