Most Realistic Scenario
Most Tennessee fans are just hoping for a bowl game and not to be embarrassed in any games this season. And that would be the most realistic scenario for the Vols in 2018 at this point.
A 6-6 season seems like the happy medium between the Vols’ worst and best-case possibilities this season. Getting to six wins means the Vols probably beat either Florida or South Carolina, or maybe they beat the Mountaineers to start the season and then simply take care of business in November. Either way, a 6-6 mark is certainly achievable.
There’s also the possibility of a 5-7 season too. That’s certainly a realistic outcome, especially given Tennessee’s schedule. The Vols could still beat either the Gators or Gamecocks and end up 5-7 if they drop a game to Missouri and Kentucky/Vanderbilt. Maybe the Vols do beat the Wildcats and Commodores but they lose the rest of their conference games and their match-up with West Virginia. That’s also possible.
But I’m going to be slightly optimistic here in my most realistic prediction and say a 6-6 season is the most likely outcome for the Vols in 2018. One way to do that would be for UT to beat their three non-conference opponents at home and defeat Missouri, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt.
That’s not necessarily an exciting season, but it gets the job done in terms of making a bowl game.
Tennessee’s 2018 season provides so many opportunities for various outcomes, especially with so many question marks surrounding the team heading into the start of the year. The worst-case scenario almost seems more likely than the best-case scenario, but rarely do one of the two extremes happen in a season. Tennessee already had the worst-case scenario play out last year, so it seems unlikely it happens again this season with a whole new regime in play.
Time will tell how Tennessee’s 2018 season plays out, but one thing is for certain: Vol fans are ready for the Jeremy Pruitt era to officially start finally.
