Tennessee squarely in the race to win SEC East, according to ESPN FPI

Tennessee was virtually all but left for dead after its loss to South Carolina.

Sitting at 5-3 (with a 2-3 conference record), it appeared as if the creamsicle magic had run out on Butch Jones and the Vols. Injuries continue to mount, and Joshua Dobbs has yet to play with any semblance of consistency. Rival Florida also looked primed to run away with the East Division.

However, one week can change things considerably.

A UT win — coupled with a Florida loss versus Arkansas — completely flipped the Vols’ prospects to reach Atlanta in the title game. According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, things have changed dramatically:

Last Monday Florida was a heavy favorite to win the SEC East.

Today, Tennessee is right back in the picture. pic.twitter.com/HmQxtJL7pW

— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) November 7, 2016

Tennessee has a rather manageable remainder of its schedule — with contests versus Kentucky, Missouri, and Vanderbilt (on the road).

On the other side of the coin, Florida will take on South Carolina at home — followed by road games at LSU and Florida State. The Gators will also be without starting signal-caller Luke Del Rio for an unspecified amount of time. Like Tennessee, Florida has been ravaged by injury.

Should the Vols win out, and the Gators drop one of their two conference games, UT will leapfrog UF in the standings within the East (due to holding the tiebreaker).