ESPN’s College Gameday came to Tennessee for two different games during the Vols’ resurgent 2022 season, setting up on The Hill for the network’s premier pregame show ahead of Tennessee’s matchups against Florida and Alabama. They were at another Tennessee game later in the season when they went to Athens for the Vols’ loss at Georgia in November.
But after going to three Tennessee football games during the 2022 season, College Gameday didn’t go to a single Tennessee game during the 2023 season as the Vols took a step back and posted an 8-4 record during the regular season.
Interior expectations are high for the Vols entering Josh Heupel’s fourth season as head coach. Could College Gameday go to a Tennessee football game this season? Taking a look at three potential Tennessee games that College Gameday could travel to this season.
3. Alabama at Tennessee, Oct. 19
The latest addition of the Third Saturday in October is the most likely chance for College Gameday to travel to Knoxville this season. With Alabama expected to take at least a small step back without Nick Saban this season, the oddsmakers currently has Alabama as 2.5-point favorites against Tennessee.
The Crimson Tide have a home matchup against Georgia and a road trip to Wisconsin before their trip to Knoxville. Alabama will likely be a top 10 team. If Tennessee enters the matchup with one or less losses than this will be a big time game.
However, there’s one game keeping Tennessee-Alabama from being the most likely location for College Gameday. Georgia travels to Texas the same week in what could potentially be a top five matchup.
2. Tennessee at Georgia, Nov. 16
This one is hard to project because of how late it is in the season. Games that look to have little consequence right now could become extremely important and vice versa.
But preseason No. 1 Georgia will almost certainly live up to its billing. If Tennessee heads to Athens with two or less losses than this game will have major College Football Playoff ramifications.
Other potential games for College Gameday to travel to that week include LSU at Florida, Nebraska at USC and Oregon at Wisconsin
1. Tennessee at Oklahoma, Sept. 21
Not only is Tennessee’s matchup at Oklahoma the most logical Tennessee game for College Gameday to travel to this season, it is also the most likely game that College Gameday would travel to in week four of the college football season.
The matchup projects to be a highly competitive matchup between two ranked teams. If Tennessee defeats North Carolina State then they will likely be a top 10 team in the country. Oklahoma should also still be undefeated if they can take care of business in non conference challenges against Houston and Tulane.
Then there’s the abundance of storylines. It’s Oklahoma’s first SEC game since joining the conference and it marks Josh Heupel’s return to his alma mater since his former coach Bob Stoops fired him as offensive coordinator a decade ago.
It’s also a relatively weak college football slate. The other top contender is USC’s trip to Michigan.
