Where Tennessee's remaining opponents are ranked in ESPN's Football Power Index

Josh Heupel has a couple goals for his Tennessee football team during the bye week. The Vols want to do everything they can to get healthy after getting banged up over the first five games of the season, while also continuing to improve for the remaining seven games.  

“Heading into the bye week here and players and coaches got a chance to catch their breath a little bit early in the week,” Heupel said this week. “Coaches will be out on the road on the back end of the week recruiting. And the challenge for our football team, we gotta get healthy at this point in the season. Got a long back half of the season here that we’re staring down. And we also gotta continue to get better here this week. 

“Good teams get better throughout the course of the season. Got a lot of guys, in particular young guys, that are playing a lot of football for us. We gotta continue to grow fundamentally and within our scheme. So those are a couple of points of emphasis here as we get started during the bye week.”

After the week off, the 22nd-ranked Vols (4-1, 1-1 SEC) host Texas A&M (4-1, 2-0) on October 14 (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, CBS) at Neyland Stadium.

Tennessee through five games is ranked No. 18 in ESPN’s Football Power Index, with the Vols projected to go 8-4. Here’s what’s left on Tennessee’s schedule and where the remaining opponents are ranked in the FPI:

October 14 — No. 16 Texas A&M

Tennessee’s projected chance to win: 55.9% | Texas A&M’s projected record: 8-4

Texas A&M started the season with a 52-10 win over New Mexico but lost 48-33 a week later at Miami. The Aggies then won three straight, beating UL Monroe and Auburn at home and beating Arkansas in Dallas last week. They host Alabama before Saturday before making the trip to Tennessee on October 14. A&M has lost seven straight road games, with the last true road win coming October 16, 2021 at Missouri.

October 21 — at No. 3 Alabama

Tennessee’s projected chance to win: 19.7% | Alabama’s projected record: 10-2

Alabama made changes at quarterback after the 34-24 loss to Texas in Tuscaloosa on September 9, but the Crimson Tide are back to their original starter, Jalen Milroe, after Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson struggled in a 17-3 win at South Florida. Alabama beat Ole Miss 24-10 at home two weeks ago and won 40-17 at Mississippi State Saturday night. The Tide go to A&M Saturday and Arkansas on October 14 before Tennessee comes to town on October 21.

October 28 — at No. 31 Kentucky 

Tennessee’s projected chance to win: 58.2% | Kentucky’s projected record: 8-4

Tennessee has back-to-back road trips after hosting Texas A&M, going to Alabama and Kentucky. The Wildcats beat Florida 33-14 on Saturday, with Ray Davis rushing for 280 yards in a dominant performance. Kentucky won 45-28 at Vanderbilt two weeks ago and beat Akron 35-3 on September 16. UK struggled in a 28-17 win over Eastern Kentucky on September 9, after beating Ball State 44-14 in the season opener on September 2. Before playing Tennessee, Kentucky goes to Georgia on Saturday, plays Missouri at home on October 14 and has an open date on October 21.

November 4 — No. 127 UConn

Tennessee’s projected chance to win: 97.9% | UConn’s projected record: 2-10

In no uncertain terms, the 0-5 UConn Huskies are one of the worst Power 5 teams in college football. They battled NC State in a 24-14 loss at home on August 31 but has since lost to Georgia State (35-14), Florida International (24-17), Duke (41-7) and Utah State (34-33). Before serving as Tennessee’s homecoming opponent on November 4, UConn plays at Rice on Saturday, at home against South Florida (October 21) and at Boston College (October 28). 

November 11 — at No. 35 Missouri 

Missouri’s projected record: 8-4 | Tennessee’s chance to win: 65.0%

Missouri is off to a 5-0 start after wins over South Dakota, Middle Tennessee, Kansas State, Memphis and Vanderbilt. Before hosting Tennessee on November 11, Mizzou plays LSU on Saturday, then at Kentucky (October 14), at home against South Carolina (October 21) and at Georgia (November 11). Josh Heupel has had Missouri’s number the last two seasons, winning 66-24 in Knoxville last November and 62-24 at Missouri in October 2021.  

November 18 — No. 7 Georgia

Georgia’s projected record: 11-1 | Tennessee’s chance to win: 34.2%

Georgia has looked somewhat human despite its status of the back-to-back defending national champions. South Carolina led 14-3 at halftime in Athens on September 16 before Georgia answered with a 21-0 second half, winning 24-14. Auburn on Saturday had it tied late before the Dawgs left town with a 27-20 win. Georgia goes to Kentucky this week and is on the road at Vanderbilt on October 14. After that its Florida in Jacksonville (October 28), Missouri at home (November 4) and Ole Miss at home (November 11) before the trip to Tennessee on November 18. 

November 25 — No. 102 Vanderbilt 

Tennessee’s projected chance to win: 94.2% | Vanderbilt’s projected record: 3-9

Vandy started 2-0 with wins over Hawaii and Alabama A&M but has since lost four straight — at Wake Forest (36-20), at UNLV (40-37), Kentucky (45-28) and Missouri (38-21). The ‘Dores go to Florida Saturday and host Georgia on October 14. They go to Ole Miss (October 28) after a bye week, host Auburn on November 4 and go to South Carolina on November 11, before closing the regular-season schedule at Tennessee on November 25. Josh Heupel has beat Vandy by a combined score of 101-21 the last two seasons.