Power ranking the SEC after Week 5 - 5: Tennessee
What a gutsy win for the Volunteers in one of the toughest places to win in the entire SEC. Starkville has some bad juju of some kind, as Texas A&M fans well know, but Tennessee never gave up— and they came out with a win.
The Vols enter the bye at 4-1, having played overtime games in both of the previous two weeks. In other words, this is the perfect time for a week of rest, given how physical these games have been and the gamut of emotions that the team has run.
They’ll have a couple of weeks to prepare for the Arkansas Razorbacks, who they’ll be looking to settle a score with after Sam Pittman and crew defeated them in Fayetteville last year. These are two very different-looking teams from that point, so I’d be quite surprised if we see a score similar to the 19-13 final from last year.
It’s that Alabama game that will tell us if this Tennessee squad will make it back to the playoff, though. All the other games are ones in which they should be favored, but this one is the measuring stick.