🏈 Tennessee: Top 10 again?

Hello. This is the Josh and Swain Newsletter, a quick roundup of the week’s top stories and topics involving Tennessee and the sports world.

Here’s what we have for you today:

• Where Tennessee stands for the 2025 college football season

• Tennessee Basketball prepares for its toughest game of the season

• One addition with another expected for Tennessee’s football team

• Why it took more than money for Ohio State to win the national title

TOP 10 TENNESSEE, AGAIN?

The official end of the 2024 college football season brought us a quick transition to 2025.

Almost every national sports site released a way-too-early Top 25 for 2025 following Ohio State’s win over Notre Dame on Monday night. 

Is it a bit silly to rank teams for next season when their rosters and coaching staffs aren’t completely set?

Sure! 

But what’s the harm in doing it any way?

Before we get to some of the 2025 thoughts on Tennessee, a quick note on how the Vols ended the 2024 campaign. 

Tennessee landed at No. 9 in the final Associated Press poll. 

That gives UT two top-10 finishes and a top-25 finish in the last three seasons. 

It’s the first time since 1999 and 2001 that Tennessee has finished in the Top 10 of the final polls twice in a three-year span.

Not bad.

Now, the conversation shifts to how Tennessee can go even higher.

The way-too-early polls have Tennessee as a borderline top-10 team. 

Brett McMurphy of Action Network, Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports, and USA Today’s Paul Myerberg and Erik Smith all ranked the Vols at No. 9. 

Pro Football Focus also ranked Tennessee ninth.

We can’t list every ranking, but here’s a look at some other rankings this week. 

• Yahoo Sports: 7th
• 247Sports: 13th
• The Athletic: 13th
• Sports Illustrated: 13th
• On3 Sports: 13th
• ESPN: 19th

So what’s a fair ranking for Tennessee?

Our opinion on Josh and Swain this week was somewhere in the middle. 

Top 10 feels a little high considering some of the key players Tennessee has to replace (Cooper Mays, James Pearce Jr., and Dylan Sampson to begin with).

But the Vols have plenty of talent returning with the potential for young players to improve. 

What if Nico Iamaleava makes a big leap?

That could happen — but he also needs more help at wide receiver and on the offensive line, two questionable positions as of now.

The defense has a chance to be strong again, perhaps one of the best units in the SEC.

But several defensive linemen left and cornerback Jermod McCoy’s status is a question due to his recent knee injury.

We can also play this game with most teams across college football.

Tennessee is in a good position — the Vols just finished in the top 10 behind only Texas and Georgia from the SEC.

Expectations will be high again in 2025.

How high?

To repeat: it’s early.

But FanDuel set Tennessee’s win total for the 2025 season at 9.5 games — meaning the Vols would need at least 10 wins to go over.

Can Tennessee repeat its 2024 success?

They have plenty of time to work on making it happen.

TENNESSEE’S BIG STRETCH

Tennessee basketball earned an important home win against No. 14 Mississippi State on Tuesday. 

Zakai Zeigler was once again terrific, and Chaz Lanier bounced back from a disappointing finish at Vanderbilt to hit five three-pointers. 

Now comes the toughest test of the season for Tennessee. 

The Vols will play at No. 1 Auburn on Saturday night. 

📍 Auburn, Ala.
⏰ 8:30 p.m. ET
📺 ESPN
📻 99.1 The Sports Animal/WIVK

Auburn is the real deal. 

The Tigers probably won’t be at 100 percent as star forward Johni Broome appears unlikely to play due to an ankle injury. 

Monitor Broome’s status to see if he plays.

Even without him, Auburn has one of the nation’s toughest teams.

The Tigers rank No. 1 in the nation in offensive efficiency and No. 3 in defensive efficiency.

Tennessee will also have to deal with raucous crowd, which will feed off the presence of ESPN College Gameday on Saturday morning. 

“You understand what it means to play Auburn,” VFL Ron Slay told us this week. “You’ve seen the history between these two teams. This game usually indicates which team is probably going to win the SEC championship or at least be fighting for it at the end end.”

As Slay noted, there’s also the history with Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl and assistant Steven Pearl.

A few keys for Tennessee will include:

🟠 Taking care of the ball

Tennessee can’t expect to win if they give away possessions and allow transition opportunities for Auburn. 

🟠 Rebounding 

The Vols are at their best when they’re physical and attack the glass. Even without Broome, Auburn will challenge Tennessee physically.

The Vols will have to be ready.

🟠 X-factors

The conversation always starts with Zeigler and Lanier. But who else can step up?

Darlinstone Dubar did so in UT’s road win at Texas.

Jordan Gainey had a huge performance at Illinois.

Tennessee will need a full rotation of performers at Auburn. 

➡️ A Tennessee win on Saturday would be huge. 

But keep perspective if Tennessee loses. 

Last week, the Vols lost at Vanderbilt and didn’t drop a spot in either the AP poll or the NET rankings. 

Slay reminded us during this week’s SlayRide what this SEC hoops season is about. 

Tennessee’s game at Auburn will affect the regular season race in the SEC.

But it’s important to zoom out, too. 

Here are Tennessee’s next four games:

◼️ 1/25 at Auburn
◼️ 1/28 vs Kentucky
◼️ 2/1 vs Florida
◼️ 2/5 vs Missouri 

Can the Vols go 3-1 in the next four?

That’d be great (perhaps best-case scenario, if we’re being realistic).

College basketball is a survive-and-advance sport… even more so in the SEC this year.

SPORTS NUGGETS

🏈 On3 ranked its top 25 quarterbacks for 2025. See where Nico Iamaleava ranks on the list.

🏈 The national title game had two big brands but still saw viewership take a dip on Monday night. Why do you think the viewership dropped?

🏈 Bill Belichick signed his UNC contract. He’ll make a $10 million salary and has a boatload of incentives to make even more money.

🏈 Great story from The Athletic on VFL Trey Smith living his NFL dream, which almost never happened.

🏀 Cam Carr, who left Tennessee in December, is joining Baylor’s basketball program.

🏀 See where Tennessee lands in the latest college basketball power rankings from CBS Sports.

🏆 There will be another meeting next month to discuss the future of the College Football Playoff format.

PORTAL HELP FOR TENNESSEE

Tennessee continued its transfer portal activity this week by signing one player and bringing in another for a visit. 

Running back Star Thomas from Duke announced he’ll transfer to Tennessee after visiting last weekend. 

Thomas ran for 871 yards and seven touchdowns last season at Duke and will help provide depth to go along with returning backs DeSean Bishop and Peyton Lewis?

Last year’s RB1 was set with the return of Dylan Sampson. 

This group could have more of running-back-by-committee during the 2025 season. 

Tennessee received a visit on Thursday from Notre Dame offensive guard transfer Sam Pendleton. 

Pendleton was one of four Notre Dame offensive linemen to enter the portal this week.

Tennessee has a need at guard and Pendleton, who considered the Vols before signing with Notre Dame in 2023, appears likely to transfer to UT.

Tennessee will continue to monitor the portal to see if anyone else enters. 

Like Carnell Tate…?

Ohio State’s receiver was asked about his status for next season after the Buckeyes won the title. 

No one has reported that Tate will enter the portal. 

But no one has reported he’s decided to stay, either. 

That will lead to speculation until a decision is made official. 

The new world of college football. 

THE BUCKEYE BLUEPRINT

Ohio State won the national title on Monday, which should have surprised no one who saw the Buckeyes play their previous three games. 

Ohio State was loaded with talent. 

The Buckeyes’ regular season was a slight disappointment, and the Michigan game will forever be a head scratcher. 

But OSU left no doubt about the best team in college football this season. 

The Buckeyes have left some debate over how they put their roster together, however. 

A fair share of college football fans this week proclaimed Ohio State won the title simply because they “bought” the best roster. 

The Buckeyes spent “around $20 million” on their roster, AD Ross Bjork said before the season. 

The exact figure is unknown — just as it’s not known how much other teams spent.

It’s fair to say Oregon and Texas were two of the other big spenders. 

It’s correct to say Ohio State (or its collective and other companies) paid the Buckeye players a lot of money this season. 

But saying OSU “bought” its roster is not telling the whole story. 

Ohio State recruited an elite class in 2021. 

A lot of those players, like wide receiver Emeka Egbuka and defensive linemen Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau, stayed and helped lead the 2024 team. 

Ohio State brought in several key transfers who made a big impact. 

Safety Caleb Downs, quarterback Will Howard and running back Quinshon Judkins were three of them. 

Ohio State identified the right players — both in recruiting and the transfer portal — and brought them in to build an elite team. 

Lots of teams are spending money. 

Tennessee is one of them. 

But it’s important to spend money on the right players — and to make sure those players provide a positive return. 

Evaluate. Develop. Build a culture.

Ohio State checked all the boxes on its way to a title. 

That’s what Tennessee — and everyone else — is trying to do, too. 

➡️ We discussed this subject on this week’s show.

Check out the segment below and let us know what you think Tennessee must do next as the Vols try to climb higher in the world of college football.

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