KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee's football season will kick off on Thursday night against Bowling Green in what should be a blowout win.
Fans are craving a winning season, but will they get it?
WBIR Sports Director Karthik Venkataraman takes a guess at how he sees the season playing out for the Vols.
THE NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
Tennessee will play Bowling Green, Pittsburgh and Tennessee Tech all at home to start the season.
The Vols have no business losing to BGSU or Tennessee Tech who they're paying a combined $2.5 million to play at Neyland Stadium. Those have to be wins.
Week two against Pittsburgh will be a tougher task. The Panthers are predicted to be a top-five team by many in the ACC this season.
Head coach Pat Narduzzi and Pittsburgh also have recent success over now Vols head coach Josh Heupel. In 2019, the Panthers upset the University of Central Florida, where Heupel coached last, in a 54-34 thriller.
Can Heupel avoid another loss to Pitt with a new Vols team just learning the offensive scheme against a coach who knows the scheme? The prediction is Pittsburgh edges out Tennessee in a close one.
THE START OF CONFERENCE PLAY
Tennessee will start SEC action against Florida, Missouri and South Carolina.
Going on the road against the Gators is going to be tough. Florida is expected to be a top 15 team with a solid offense despite the loss of Heisman candidate quarterback Kyle Trask. It seems unlikely for the Vols.
However, the next two games against the Tigers and Gamecocks are winnable. Missouri's offense wasn't too good last year and there's not a reason as of now to see it spark all of a sudden. South Carolina had a worse season than Tennessee last year and they are about to start a graduate assistant as their starting quarterback.
The prediction is the Vols are 4-2 through their first six games.
THE TOUGHEST PART OF THE SCHEDULE
This is a part of the schedule Vols fans probably won't have a lot of happy moments.
Next on the schedule is Ole Miss, Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia.
The Rebels are expected to be around the top 25 this season. If there is a chance, it's that Ole Miss's defense last season was not good at all and the Vols offense is supposed to work as a team that put up points in high numbers, However, the prediction Ole Miss in what might be a shootout.
Side note, it will also be the return of Lane Kiffin to Neyland Stadium.
Alabama is the preseason No. 1 and that game is on the road, enough said.
Kentucky is expected to be one of the better teams in the SEC, it wouldn't be a surprise if the Wildcats take this one.
The end of this four-game stretch is against Georgia, who is a preseason top-five team. This also most likely isn't a win for Tennessee.
The prediction is a four-game losing streak for the Vols in these games.
THE END OF THE REGULAR SEASON
The Vols have their SEC cupcake game against South Alabama this season. That has to be a win. They close out the season against Vanderbilt, who might be the worst team in the SEC coming into this season.
Tennessee likely will close out the season with two wins, which would give them a final record of 6-6.
That would send Tennessee to a bowl game this upcoming season.
THE FIRST GAME
Tennessee will take on Bowling Green at Neyland Stadium at 8 p.m. on Thursday. WBIR will have live coverage of the game and pregame festivities throughout the day,