National analyst makes bold prediction for rest of Tennessee Vols' season
CBS Sports' Josh Pate, a popular national college football analyst, thinks the Tennessee Vols could be in for a special season. After watching the Vols beat Florida, Pate believes that Tennessee has a very good chance to go 10-2. In fact, he said if you said the over/under for Vols wins this season at 9.5 […]
CBS Sports' Josh Pate, a popular national college football analyst, thinks the Tennessee Vols could be in for a special season.
After watching the Vols beat Florida, Pate believes that Tennessee has a very good chance to go 10-2.
In fact, he said if you said the over/under for Vols wins this season at 9.5 right now, he'd take the over.
Pate's reasoning is that Tennessee will be favored in every game the rest of the season — except the games against Alabama and Georgia.
I think 10-2 is definitely possible for this Vols team. But I don't necessarily think it's likely.
Josh Heupel is still building this program. And putting 10-win expectations on this team in year two isn't really fair. If the Vols win nine games this season, it would still be a great accomplishment by Heupel, his staff, and most importantly, his players.
Tennessee still has some tough games on the schedule. They have to go to LSU after the bye week. While the Tigers are currently an unranked team, they still have plenty of talent. And they're led by a coach in Brian Kelly who has won some big games. That matchup will be tough.
The game against Kentucky will also be tough — just like it was last season.
Tennessee, with a bowl game win, could realistically get to 11 wins this season. That would be beyond incredible. But they might also drop a game to LSU or Kentucky and lose their bowl game and finish with nine wins. That would still be a solid season. And I think Heupel would still be ahead of schedule.
It's great for Vols fans to hear the optimism from Pate, but don't let that optimism reshape your expectations for Heupel in year two.
Featured image via USA TODAY Sports
