Tennessee Football has one of the toughest schedules in the SEC

Tennessee football’s schedule is no joke in 2020, and just as Tennessee starts gaining momentum, its schedule ranks as one of the most difficult in the SEC.

We all know that Tennessee football’s schedule is going to cause some challenges for the Vols, and it could be one of the toughest schedules in the SEC. With Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama, and Georgia on the schedule, it’s going to be tough for Tennessee to get more than eight wins, but it’s not impossible.

Every team that I listed except Oklahoma is on Tennessee’s schedule every year, so those are three difficult games every year off the start for the Vols. The addition of Oklahoma for Tennessee this year is just an added bonus in difficulty.

If Oklahoma wasn’t on the schedule this year, then Tennessee would have a minimum expectation of eight wins this season with high hopes of winning one of those three SEC rivalry games. With Oklahoma, that doesn’t really change, but if the Vols only win seven games again, then I think it’s at least understandable as long as Tennessee doesn’t lose any winnable games.

Of course, it will be disappointing if Tennessee loses to Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, but if Tennessee can keep those games competitive for all four quarters, then high hopes will remain for Jeremy Pruitt and the Vols.

I’m sure that will change if Tennessee is in all four of those games in the fourth quarter and can’t find a way to win any of them then criticism will begin to come Pruitt’s way, and I’m sure my attitude, along with many other fans, as expectations will quickly move to fans expecting to win those games.

Tennessee’s Week Two game at Oklahoma is a game seen as winnable, but it could actually be Tennessee’s toughest game on its schedule.

CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli ranked SEC team’s strength of schedule, and according to Fornelli, Tennessee might have a tough road ahead of them.

"Tennessee’s game against Oklahoma on the road is more difficult than Arkansas’ against Notre Dame by my metric, but the Vols other nonconference games don’t quite match up with Arkansas. Also, while the Vols get Alabama, Florida and Georgia, they also get Arkansas and Vanderbilt."

Tennessee has the second-toughest ranked schedule, according to Fornelli, and the Vols sit right behind Arkansas. Other notables on the list are Vanderbilt at No. 3, Alabama at No. 6, LSU at No. 9, Georgia at No. 11, and Florida coming in last at No. 14.

Even with the difficult schedule, Tennessee still has a really solid team, and I don’t think that Tennessee is going to get bullied around like they have been in the past. They might not go 10-2 or do anything too crazy, but I don’t think the Vols lose more than four games this fall.