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Coming into the 2019 season, the proverbial “next step” for the Tennessee Vols was thought to be a minimum 6-6 record and bowl game appearance as they enter year two of the Jeremy Pruitt era.
Only two weeks into the season, however, the idea of Tennessee playing in a bowl game is quite a long shot, according to ESPN writer Bill Connelly and his SP+ odds.
After losing to Sun Belt team Georgia State in the season opener, Tennessee would have had to beat BYU not only to help its odds of playing in the postseason, but also to avoid its first 0-2 start since the 1988 season. That didn’t happen, as a missed assignment in the game’s final minute allowed BYU to hit a game-tying field goal and win in double overtime, 29-26.
Connelly’s odds have the Vols at a stunning 8% probability of making a bowl game, down from the 70% that was posted after week 1.
This team is staring down the barrel of a brutal SEC slate, which begins after hosting in-state FCS foe Chattanooga in week 3. UAB will head to Knoxville on November 2 to round out the non-conference schedule, which means Tennessee will have to defeat four SEC programs in a schedule that includes a game at Florida and at Alabama, plus home dates with Georgia and Mississippi State.
That is, of course, assuming the Vols can take care of UTC and UAB. And if there is anything we have learned to this point, it is that no win is a guarantee for this football team.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Lucas is a digital reporter for 104.5 The Zone in Nashville, and a high school play-by-play broadcaster. Lucas has been covering SEC football for Saturday Down South since 2018.
