CBS Sports thinks the Kentucky Wildcats have an advantage over the Tennessee Vols in 2026 at an important position group.

But I can’t say that I agree with them.

CBS Sports ranked the top 10 offensive lines in college football, and they surprisingly have Kentucky at No. 3 while Tennessee is at No. 7.

Kentucky’s addition of Vols transfer offensive lineman Lance Heard is a big reason why.

“Kentucky has quietly assembled a talented roster, led by an offensive line that should be one of the Wildcats’ strengths this season,” wrote CBS Sports’ Blake Brockermeyer. “… Lance Heard arrives from Tennessee to protect the blind side. He brings more than 1,800 career snaps along with immense potential.”

There’s no doubt that Kentucky has an extremely talented offensive line group, but this is a new team, with some new players, who will be playing in a new scheme. We have no idea how this group will perform together.

Tennessee, on the other hand, returns four of five starters (Heard was the only loss) from a group that played well last season.

Former five-star offensive tackle David Sanders Jr, who will be a sophomore this fall, will anchor the left side along with guard Wendell Moe. Sam Pendleton is back at center, and Jesse Perry showed last season that he can be effective at either guard or tackle (LSU transfer Ory Williams is the favorite to start at right tackle which would push Perry to right guard, but we’ll see if it plays out that way).

The expectation is certainly that Tennessee’s offensive line will play at a high level in 2026 — as long as everyone stays healthy (depth may be a question mark).

“I think it’d be really disappointing if they weren’t good,” said VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs in early June on WNML’s SportsTalk. “When you talk about what they have coming back — all of the experience they have coming back — with Sam Pendleton at center, who has now played a year in this offense. David Sanders is obviously an experienced player who got better throughout the year last year. The same goes for Jesse Perry, Wendell Moe, and Sham Umarov. [They added] Ory Williams. They’re bringing back basically four or five starters. There’s no reason why they shouldn’t be good. I think it would be real disappointing if that group does not play well this season.”

Kentucky has talent, but I like the continuity that Tennessee has better — which is the main reason why I think the Vols will have the better offensive line this fall.