Tennessee football named biggest sleeper in the SEC for the 2024 season

The Southeastern Conference will expand to 16 teams on July 1, 2024, and with it will come two more powerhouse programs to compete for the SEC championship. Tennessee football is coming off three straight winning seasons but will face an uphill battle if it wants to win the conference in 2024.

Because the SEC is eliminating divisions, the Vols won’t have to worry about division foes like Florida, Georgia or South Carolina, but they will still need to finish in the top two of the conference standings at the end of the season to make money. a trip to Atlanta.

That doesn’t mean the Vols don’t have a chance to do the unthinkable. Tennessee is replacing a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, so they fly under the radar of many college football analysts. One position the Vols are replacing is quarterback, but the redshirt freshman replacement has Heisman potential.

Freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava has been handed the keys to the offense. CBS’ Josh Pate believes he is a future star and is making the Vols a much better football team than many give the Vols credit for heading into the summer.

“Tennessee is a major sleeper team in the SEC,” Pate said. “They have the sixth-best odds to win the conference. Nico Iamaleava becomes a star. I like the moves they made in the wide receiving area. Their talent is underestimated. That includes their defensive coaching staff. They get Florida and Alabama. They go to Georgia late in the year. If they play good ball early, they could be in a situation where they can afford to lose later in the year and still be in the thick of the CFP race. I hate to say that, but that’s just the way we are.”

Tennessee joins Penn State, Louisville and Arizona as some of the most underrated teams in power conferences. Pate says the Vols are the biggest sleeper team in the SEC, but that could change once the Big Orange take the field in the fall.

The Vols enter Year 4 under head coach Josh Heupel, who has posted three winning seasons in as many years in Knoxville. He is 27-12 as Tennessee’s head coach and is preparing to put his third quarterback in four years on the field with one of the highest ceilings in college football.

While Tennessee is projected to finish at or around fifth place in the SEC this year, it’s not a stretch to say that the Vols could win a few coin-flip games by the time November rolls around and by the time come November, competing for a spot in Atlanta.