Tennessee football opens its 2024 season in just over three weeks when it hosts Chattanooga at Neyland Stadium. The Vols head to Neyland Stadium on Friday night for their first scrimmage of fall practice as they keep churning through fall camp and closer-and-closer to the season opener.
Expectations are high for the Vols entering Josh Heupel’s fourth season as head coach. The USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll pegged Tennessee as the No. 15 team in the country. But for the Vols, the goal is to make the expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff. What do the oddsmakers say the chances are?
BetMGM gives Tennessee +180 odds to make the playoffs this season which is tied for the 12th best odds nationally. Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon, Texas, Notre Dame, Penn State, Ole Miss and Alabama are all betting favorites to make the playoffs while Michigan, LSU and Florida State all have better odds than Tennessee. Missouri and Clemson have the same odds to make the playoffs as the Vols.
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The odds make it clear that Tennessee is a fringe College Football Playoff team entering the 2024 season. The highest ranked group of five team will snag one of the spots making Tennessee one of a few teams right outside the group projected to make the College Football Playoff this season.
What record will be good enough for Tennessee to make the playoffs this season is unclear. With Tennessee’s schedule with a few really challenging games but not an overload of top 25 matchups— only four in the preseason— the Vols will likely need to post a 10-2 record to make the expanded playoff.
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Tennessee has a number of roster questions entering the season including in the secondary as well as running back depth. But the Vols appear strong on the line of scrimmage. Tennessee should have one of the SEC’s best defensive lines and a strong offensive line.
If redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava lives up to the hype in his first season as a starting quarterback than perhaps the three biggest positions on the field for Tennessee will be strengths. Being good at quarterback, defensive and offensive line is a good formula to make the College Football Playoff.
The biggest games on Tennessee’s schedule includes road trips to Georgia and Oklahoma, home games against Florida and Alabama and a neutral site matchup against North Carolina State.
