Paul Finebaum explains why he's higher on Tennessee coming out of SEC Media Days

Media days are a time to generate even more interest in your program, team, and upcoming season than there was coming in. While in Dallas last week, Paul Finebaum felt the one who did the best job of that was the one coming down from Rocky Top.

Finebaum answered which team he changed his opinion on most after SEC Media Days during ‘McElroy and Cubelic In The Morning’ on Monday. For him, it was Tennessee based on the conversations he had regarding the Volunteers. That has shifted his take on them to the point where they’re now challenging for the top tier in the conference going into the fall.

“I don’t know. In talking to Josh Heupel and a couple of the Tennessee people, I probably am a little more optimistic about the Volunteers,” said Finebaum. “I’ve always felt they were in that next group after the three or four that we talk about. But I think they’re maybe closer to that first group than the second tier.”

Preseason expectations do still have Tennessee in the middle of the pack in the league. The SEC Media Poll voted the Vols to finish seventh this year. That’s the same spot they landed in the preview for Athlon Sports. Phil Steele did have them slightly higher in a tie for fifth. Still, with it being four ways with LSU, Missouri, and Oklahoma, that has them anywhere from fifth to eighth.

Still, Tennessee has some upside through for their fourth season under Heupel. After winning seven in his debut, they’ve won 11 and nine in the two years after with them 20-6 (.769) in that span. That’s the third-best record in the conference in that time behind only Georgia and Alabama.

The Volunteers, like other teams in the conference and the country coming in, have their questions entering 2024. Even so, of all the ones that made an impression last week, Finebaum says Tennessee made the most positive one on him with where he thinks they could now finish this year.

“I think, after the obvious, the ones we talk about every day? I think they have the next best shot to make the playoff,” said Finebaum.

Heupel dishes on how Tennessee is handling heightened expectations

The Tennessee Volunteers aren’t shying away from their heightened expectations entering 2024.

During the latest episode of ‘Andy Staples On3’ live from SEC Media Days, Heupel joined the show to explain how the Volunteers are readying for a season where many believe they’re a team to beat in the conference and how Tennessee is working the media’s projections to their advantage.

“That’s just the way you want it. That’s why you come to Rocky Top,” Heupel said about expectations. “They do care 365 days out of the year. The expectations outside of the building are never going to be higher than what they are inside of our room. Yeah, and our guys in today’s landscape? You don’t block out the noise. But you can be intentional on what you let live in your headspace versus moving it out of your headspace. For us, this group has been really good at how intentional they are in their work habits.

“Every single day – on the practice field during spring ball, in the weight room, just the consistency of it? That’s where success lies. You have long term goals, dreams, visions. Where you want to get to comes down to being where your feet are and winning that moment.”