Schedule Even if the offense comes into its own and the defense remains tough as nails, the Volunteers will still have a rough time with their brutal schedule. The first four games are at home which is always bonus for a team trying to reload but two of those games are extremely difficult ones against California and Florida, both of which are ranked ahead of Tennessee. The Volunteers get a short break with games against Memphis and Marshall but then they hit the SEC schedule running. Three road games at Georgia, South Carolina and Arkansas are all tough while two home games against Alabama and LSU could be even tougher. Closing out the season against Vanderbilt and Kentucky will be two easy wins.

You can bet on… For the first time in the Fulmer era, things are unsettled in Rocky Top. He has assured everyone that things are fine and last year was just one of those seasons where everything went wrong. He is right, to a point, but a lot of the problems stemmed from some of his coaching decisions. He is hoping the return of Cutcliffe fends off the dogs. Tennessee has not has a winning record against the number since 1999, going 32-43 since then including a putrid 3-8 ATS mark last season. The Volunteers are just 3-13 ATS as a favorite over the last two years and an even worse 9-23 ATS as a home favorite since 2001. They will be dogs in possibly four of their Neyland Stadium games but that won’t help as they are 0-3 ATS as a home dog over the last six seasons.