Tennessee football’s five most intriguing games in 2024

The 2024 college football season will be one of firsts.

The College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams, highly anticipated conference realignment over the last two years will swell Power Five league numbers, including the SEC, which will be without divisions for the first time in 30-plus years with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma.

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Tennessee will feel the effects of these changes. The Vols' upcoming schedule includes conference newcomer Oklahoma with still some familiar foes on the docket and one early neutral site game that may be flying under the radar this offseason.

Nico Iamaleava is now Tennessee's unquestioned leader at quarterback and the Vols' wide receiving and running backs corps is teeming with potential along with an offensive and defensive line that returns a plethora of experience.

Those factors could lead to Tennessee finishing as one of the best 12 teams by the end of the regular season and a potential SEC title contender. But to get there, the Vols will have to perform well in these five defining games.

This one could top most lists because of the storylines involved.

Oklahoma will make its SEC debut against Tennessee at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman on Sept. 21 and it will mark the return of Heupel, who led the Sooners to their last national championship as a Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback in 2000.

Oklahoma finished 10-3 in head coach Brent Venables second season but lost three of its last six games, including a 38-24 loss to Arizona in the Alamo Bowl.

It will be a mid-September test for both teams. The Sooners start the season with home games against Temple, Houston and Tulane before hosting the Vols while Tennessee will be coming off of non-conference games vs. Chattanooga, NC State and Kent State.

For the first time in 17 years there will be a new head coach opposite the Tennessee sideline in the Third Saturday of October rivalry.

Nick Saban retired in January and Kalen DeBoer replaced him after leading Washington to the National Championship Game a week later. Now a new-look Alabama team will enter Neyland Stadium on Oct. 19.

It will mark the Crimson Tide's first visit to Knoxville since Tennessee ended a 15-game losing streak on Chase McGrath's game-winning field goal in 2022.

After a one-sided series for much of the last decade-plus, the last two Tennessee-Alabama games have been eventful. The Vols jumped out to a 20-7 lead in Tuscaloosa last season before the Crimson Tide came from behind in the second half to win 34-20.

Tennessee ended some frustration the last time it played Florida at Neyland Stadium.

In another rivalry game that has featured very little parity, the Vols took a three-score lead in the fourth quarter on the Gators and then held them off on the final play to win 38-33, their first signature win in their 11-2 campaign in 2022.

Tennessee was a heavy favorite last season but offensive woes in the first half helped Florida build a big halftime lead that resulted in a 29-16 win in Gainesville.

The Gators are coming off of three-straight losing seasons but are 2-1 vs. the Vols in that span. This is a game Tennessee will likely be favored in again, especially with it being played in Knoxville on Oct. 12.

The game is situated in an interested spot, in between a road tilt at Arkansas and a home meeting with Alabama and one that feels like a must-win given the current state of the Florida program.

Georgia is the one hurdle Josh Heupel's teams haven't cleared.

On a national scale, the Bulldogs have been dominant, winning two of the last three national championships and are primed for another after just missing out on the last four-team playoff after losing in the SEC Championship Game in 2023.

Tennessee entered its last game in Athens as the newly minted No. 1 team in the College Football Playoff rankings with the SEC title on the line but lost in a downpour to eventual national champion Georgia at Sanford Stadium.

A conference crown could be on the line again when the two teams clash again on Nov. 16 and if the Vols can handle the other games on their schedule heading into that game, it could offer up a preview of a potential playoff match up down the road.

Though not as intriguing as Tennessee's conference games, the Vols' can't afford to overlook NC State in a week 2 neutral site match up.

Tennessee will face the Wolfpack in the Duke's Mayo Kickoff Classic at Bank of America Stadium Charlotte, which will offer up its first true test in just its second game of the season.

NC State won nine games last season with wins over Clemson, Miami and North Carolina. Though it lost a number of contributors from that team, it did add to its roster from the transfer portal, including former Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall who combined for 9,980 passing yards and 87 touchdowns in the previous four seasons.

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