Will Tennessee make a bowl game? ESPN FPI predicts final 3 games for Vols
Opening their 2019 season with consecutive home losses to the Georgia State Panthers and BYU Cougars, it looked like another lost season of Tennessee Volunteers football.
Instead, second-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt’s troops have rallied to win four of their last seven games, including two straight.
With their latest victory, a 30-7 triumph over the UAB Blazers on November 2, the Volunteers pulled to within two games of bowl eligibility. In order to qualify for the postseason for the first time since the 2016 season, Tennessee will need to come out on top in two of their three remaining games.
On Sunday, ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) released their updated odds for those games:
- Nov. 9 at Kentucky (42.7-percent)
- Nov. 23 at Missouri (37.2-percent)
- Nov. 30 vs. Vanderbilt (87.2-percent)
Here’s a brief description of how FPI works:
The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance moving forward. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 10,000 simulations of the rest of the season using the FPI, results to date and the remaining schedule. Ratings and projections update daily.
While the FPI is projecting the Volunteers to fall one win short of a bowl game, the team has three chances left to exceed last season’s mark of 2-6 in SEC play.
Their first attempt to prove the FPI wrong, redshirt senior Jauan Jennings and the Volunteers will travel to Kroger Field to battle the Kentucky Wildcats (4-4) on Saturday at 7:30PM ET on the SEC Network.