Tennessee is heading into 2026 with a label that fits the moment: dark horse.
CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford placed the Vols in his Tier 6 group of College Football Playoff contenders, one of seven teams in that bottom tier. Tennessee is joined there by Washington, Clemson, Louisville, South Carolina, Oklahoma State, and UNLV.
Crawford’s list spans six tiers in all, with 26 teams total, and Tennessee lands at the back end after a 2025 season that ended at 8-5 and with a Music City Bowl loss. That came after the Vols made their first CFP trip in 2024.
Crawford’s case for Tennessee is built on the idea that the Vols are not getting the same preseason attention as other SEC teams, and that could make them dangerous. He wrote, “The Vols aren’t generating the same preseason buzz as several SEC contenders, and that’s exactly what makes Tennessee dangerous,” Crawford writes.
“Josh Heupel has proven his offense can overwhelm elite defenses when it finds its rhythm, and the roster still has enough speed and explosiveness to challenge anyone in the conference on defense. If Tennessee gets steady quarterback play and the defense improves under Jim Knowles, the Vols will have every opportunity to play their way into the CFP.
They’re flying under the radar in July.”
That quarterback piece is no small part of the story. Joey Aguilar is no longer on the roster, and Tennessee’s competition at the position will continue in fall camp between redshirt-freshman George MacIntyre and true freshman Faizon Brandon. On defense, the Vols have also made a major offseason push, adding multiple transfer players and several new defensive coaches.
There’s also the schedule, which has some people around CBS Sports looking at Tennessee as a possible sleeper. Chip Patterson pointed to the fact that Auburn, Arkansas, and Kentucky are all working under new head coaches, a setup he believes could help Tennessee in SEC play.
“I will say that for Tennessee, you do have a situation, looking at this schedule, where I think that you’ve got to love the talent and the status of where you sit in the SEC,” Patterson said in June. “As Auburn is going through transition, as Arkansas is going through transition, as Kentucky is going through transition, you’ve got a couple of spots where potentially plucky, thorn-in-your-side type teams are not necessarily in a position to jump up in weight class in my opinion.”
Still, Patterson made clear that the Vols will have to win the games that matter most. He pointed to LSU and Texas A&M as the key stretch, and said Tennessee could be sitting at 9-3 if it handles LSU.
“Then it’s going to come down to being able to take care of business in some of those biggest games,” Patterson said. “You will note that I’ve got a win against LSU.
Yes, that is another Lane Kiffin trip to Knoxville that I’ve got my eyes on. I think that somewhere between that and Texas A&M, it ends up being one-and-one through that stretch.
But that win against LSU, the way that I’ve got this laid out, could leave them at 9-3 and potentially be their path to being the last team into the College Football Playoffs.”
After the letdown that closed out 2025, Tennessee enters this season with questions, but also with a path that some believe could still lead back to the playoff field.
In Other News...
Tennessees Quarterback Battle May Already Be Telling Fans Something Big
Tennessees quarterback room is already one of the most watched parts of fall camp, and for good reason. The Vols are set to sort through a competition that includes true freshman Faizon Brandon, redshirt-freshman George MacIntyre and transfer Ryan Staub, a mix that gives the staff both youth and experience as it tries to identify the next answer under center.
Brandon has been the name drawing the most attention so far, not just because of his recruiting profile, but because of how quickly he has taken to the offense. Coaches have been encouraged by his early progress, and that kind of head start can matter in a room where every rep counts. Even before the competition really settles in, there is already a sense that Tennessee may be seeing the shape of its future at quarterback. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessees Biggest 2026 NIL Price Tag Comes With One Huge Twist
Tennessees roster-building under the modern NIL system has produced a familiar sort of arms race, with the biggest numbers often attached to the most coveted young talent. Left tackle David Sanders Jr. sits at the top of the active group with a reported $1.7 million valuation, while quarterback George MacIntyre and a cluster of freshmen and juniors are also being discussed in the six- and seven-figure range. It is a reminder that for the Volunteers, the price of keeping pace in the SEC is no longer just about recruiting rankings or depth charts, but about how aggressively the program can secure the players it believes will matter most.
Chaz Coleman is the twist in that picture. The edge rusher reportedly signed Tennessees largest NIL deal at $2 million, only for the arrangement to change after a medical disqualification, leaving the school to pay out roughly $200,000 before he moved on. For a program trying to balance immediate roster needs with long-term investment, that kind of turn is exactly why NIL has become as much about risk management as it is about talent acquisition. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Finally Gets The National Respect Vols Fans Wanted
College basketball analyst Jon Rothstein gave Tennessee another sign that the Vols are being viewed the way their fans have long wanted, slotting them No. 10 in his Rothstein Power 45. For a program that has spent recent seasons trying to turn strong regular-season teams into something even more dangerous in March, the ranking fits the broader sense around this roster: Tennessee has the talent to be taken seriously as a national title threat.
Rick Barnes has used the transfer portal to reshape the group with a clear eye toward more scoring punch, adding Juke Harris, Terrence Hill Jr., Jalan Haralson, Dai Dai Ames, Miles Rubin, Braedan Lue, Christian Fermin and DeWayne Brown II. The Vols still want to win the familiar way, with defense and rebounding at the center of everything, but the real test is coming soon enough in a demanding non-conference slate that should say plenty about how ready this team is for the postseason. [Read more 🡒]