Vols 'excited' for Knoxville to be 'center of the college football world'

Josh Heupel remembers the ambience around campus when ESPN's College GameDay was in town while he was a quarterback at Oklahoma.

Now, he'll get to experience it as Tennessee's head coach.

Tennessee's SEC home opener against No. 20 Florida (2-1, 0-1 SEC) drew the popular Saturday morning pregame show to campus for the first time six years following the No. 11 Vols' 3-0 start.

According to Heupel during his weekly appearance on the SEC Coaches Teleconference on Wednesday, his staff and players are enjoying the spotlight.

"My last year (at Oklahoma) we had GameDay at least twice," Heupel recalled. "To me, it just means you're playing in big games. I'm not sure you realize it during the course of the week but you kind of felt it on Friday that the energy was just a little bit heightened around campus as you were driving in and coming into the building. Those were great memories for me back then.

"I talked to the players earlier in the week that GameDay is going to be here and you're obviously the center of the college football world for the morning. Enjoy that that's going to be taking place."

Tennessee sold out Neyland Stadium more than a week ago in anticipation for the top-20 matchup, which has been won by Florida 16 of the last 17 meetings. But past history hardly matters to the Vols' current players. A win Saturday would be more than the Vols' best start since 2016. It could signify the program's emergence as a legitimate SEC East contender.

With all of the hype surrounding the game, competing for the division is still the main focus among Tennessee players this week.

"(The Tennessee-Florida game) means the world because this what you come to schools like this for," Tennessee senior tight end Jacob Warren said earlier this week. "You come for these big rivalries and these big story matchups between teams. I think it means a lot this year, too because both programs have really good teams. This is what you play SEC ball for — weekends like this."

“Our players are looking forward to the challenge. Florida is a very good football team," Heupel said. " ... It will be a great test for us. It's been a really good week and the challenge for us is to continue prepare the right way."

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