Final Season Thoughts
Daniel: While I feel fairly confident in the final record, I have little confidence in my picks for how the Vols get there. I think this is the first team that the Vols will have in awhile that will be relevant in many regards.. I see them being in almost every game this year. How many of those swing games can they get, though? I don’t know. I wouldn’t be stunned at anything from seven to 10 wins this year. I was possibly leaning closer to picking nine wins before some of the injuries in camp, but decided to stick with eight. I like a lot about this team and think the Vols have nine-or-10-win talent at a lot of spots, but the offensive line and now the lack of depth at some spots due to injuries concern me. I could see this season going in so many directions, but I chose a similar pattern to what happened in 2014. In my projection, the Vols struggle early, rebound, find some momentum late and overall take a step in the right direction, but also leave some on the table. Final season record: 8-4 (5-3 SEC)
Houston: This was a tough prediction. Anything from 7-5 to 11-1 seems possible for this team. Health, to me, is the biggest factor in this teams potential success, which is why this was such a difficult call. If the Vols stay healthy and have some young guys step up, great things are in store for this team. If they suffer some injuries, then things could derail rather quickly…That’s exactly why I split the difference and went with 9-3. The program is heading in the right direction, and getting there fast, but anyone who doesn’t have some concerns with this team is fooling themselves. It will be a fun ride, regardless, so strap in and hang on tight. Final season record: 9-3 (5-3 SEC, SEC East Champs)
Reed: I have zero confidence in my picks for Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida and Arkansas, but am fairly confident the Vols will win at least two of those games en route to a 9-3 record and SEC East crown. An injury to either Dobbs, Sutton or Hurd could completely derail these predictions, but the Vols should still manage to get to at least 7-5 (which would mark improvement from last season) even with a slew of injuries. This is likely to be an up and down season, but if the team (and the fans) can weather a few bumps, it should be a fun ride and mark the most successful season since at least 2007. Final season record: 9-3 (6-2 SEC, SEC East Champs)
