Way-too-early preview of each game on Tennessee's 2024 schedule

Tennessee took down Iowa in the Citrus Bowl on Monday and is turning the page to the 2024 season.

This includes eight inner-conference matches with the erasure of divisions along with four out-of-conference clashes.

Here is a way-too-early preview of each of the games.

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This past season, Chattanooga finished with an 8-5 record while falling to 7-seed Furman in the FCS playoffs. This included a narrow win over Austin Peay on the road to reach the second round.

The lone losses of the year were to North Alabama, Western Carolina, Alabama and twice to the Paladins.

While the Mocs put together an impressive campaign, Tennessee shouldn't have any issue in the opener.

NC State will look a lot different than it did this year. The Wolfpack are losing quarterbacks Brennan Armstrong and MJ Morris after both spent time as starters. Consensus All-American linebacker Payton Wilson is also out of eligibility.

Despite some turbulence, the team still managed a 9-3 finish and a Pop-Tarts Bowl appearance. The only losses came early in the year to Notre Dame, Louisville and Duke.

At quarterback, Coastal Carolina's Grayson McCall has committed out of the portal. He was extremely successful previously in his career but the game against the Vols will be his first test with NC State.

Tennessee will then return home to face a MAC opponent. Kent State was the worst team in the conference in 2023, though.

The Golden Flashes finished the year 1-11 with their only win coming over Central Connecticut State. Against Power-Five opponents, they lost by a combined 84-12 to Arkansas and UCF.

Some MAC opponents can be trouble, but its tough to imagine Kent State will turn things around in time to give the Vols any problems.

In Week Four, Tennessee will welcome Oklahoma to the conference. The Sooners will play in their first-ever SEC game against the Vols at home.

While Oklahoma took the next step in Brent Venables second year while going 10-2, it is losing a lot of key pieces of its offense next year. Not only is offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby leaving for the head coaching job at Mississippi State, but quarterback Dillon Gabriel is transferring to Oregon.

The Sooners are also moving on from defensive coordinator Ted Roof in the upcoming year.

It'll be a tough road test for the Vols, but Oklahoma has a lot of questions to answer heading into this game.

One of the coaches who was continually on the hot seat this season was Sam Pittman. The Arkansas head coach held onto his job, though, and now prepares to enter year five with the Razorbacks.

Last year didn't treat him well, though. The team went 4-8 with wins over Western Carolina, Kent State, Florida and FIU but many contributors have already decided to leave. Quarterback KJ Jefferson, running back Raheim Sanders and linebacker Chris Paul Jr. all won't be on the team next year.

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Two former Vols will be with the Razorbacks, though, with Doneiko Slaughter and Addison Nichols both transferring there this offseason.

With Arkansas trending steeply downward and a bye week for the Vols leading into the game, its tough to imagine Tennessee doesn't escape Fayetteville with a win.

The most disappointing loss of 2023 for Tennessee came to Florida. While the Gators missed out on a bowl game, one of its five wins came over the Vols at home.

Now, Tennessee gets Florida back in Neyland Stadium. The last time the teams squared off in Knoxville, the Vols came out on top. With Billy Napier entering year three under a lot of pressure, this game will be pivotal for his job security.

It'll still be Graham Mertz at quarterback for the Gators but pieces around him will be missing. This includes running back Trevor Eitienne and offensive lineman Jalen Farmer who are hitting the portal.

On defense, key pieces in Princely Umanmielen and Kamari Wilson are also departing.

Tennessee never seems to play Florida well, but catching the game in October could be beneficial.

The Third Saturday in October speaks for itself. With Tennessee claiming the win in 2022 and Alabama pitching a comeback in 2023, the hatred on both sides has been seemingly restored.

With Nick Saban as head coach, the Tide will never be an easy out, though. They are coming off an overtime loss to Michigan in the playoffs after a successful one-loss regular season and SEC title.

Next year, it can be expected that Alabama is once again in the race for a national title. Quarterback Jalen Milroe says he'll be back and Saban hasn't had issues surrounding his signal callers with weapons year after year.

The game being played in Neyland Stadium shouldn't be overlooked, but it'll take a nearly perfect game for Josh Heupel to even the series in the time he's been on campus.

After a bye week, Tennessee will host Kentucky. Heupel is yet to lose to the Wildcats and blew out Mark Stoops' program the last time they met in Knoxville.

For Kentucky, it once again fell below expectations in 2023. It wasn't a bad year, but a 7-5 finish wasn't exactly the mark fans thought could be reached.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Way-too-early depth chart projection for the Vols in 2024

With Devin Leary out of eligibility, it'll be Georgia transfer Brock Vandagriff's job to lose. Bulldog teammate and one of the top transfers in the class Jamon Dumas-Johnson is also headed to Lexington.

The Wildcats have done a good job of taking advantage of the transfer portal which it looks poised to do again.

Tennessee faces Mississippi State with a new head coach. After one year of Zach Arnett, the Bulldogs made the move to Lebby after serving as Oklahoma's offensive coordinator.

With this change, he has been tasked with rebuilding a team that finished 5-7 and is losing star quarterback Will Rogers along with many other contributors. So far, he has brought along Blake Shapen from Baylor as the replacement at quarterback.

It'll be late in the season, so by the time this game is played, a clearer picture will be painted of Mississippi State. However, as a first year head coach taking over a recently struggling program, expectations aren't too high.

Georgia is going to be out for revenge next year. After winning back-to-back national championships and going perfect in the 2023 regular season, a loss to Alabama in the SEC title game held them out of this year's playoffs.

Similar to Alabama, Kirby Smart hasn't had issues reloading. Despite a number of impactful players in the portal, it can be expected that the Bulldogs have one of the better rosters in the country.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Turrentine, young secondary makes most of opportunities in Citrus Bowl

Quarterback Carson Beck is set to return and transfers of Eitienne, Colbie Young and more are set to surround him.

Heupel hasn't played well in his three meetings with Georgia and a road trip in mid-November will only make things more difficult.

A familiar face is returning to Neyland Stadium next year. After giving Tennessee all it could handle as the head coach of Austin Peay, Scotty Walden has accepted the job at UTEP. He is bringing a large number of players with him to his next stop, as well.

The Miners are coming off of a rough season, though. They finished 3-9 with their only wins coming over Incarnate World, FIU and New Mexico State.

While Walden got his players ready last year for the match, it would be surprising if this one remains close, too.

For Tennessee, its biennial trip to Nashville to face Vanderbilt isn't actually much of a road game. With the travel short and tickets cheap, FirstBank Stadium is typically covered in orange the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

For the Commodores, Clark Lea is running into a roadblock. After finishing 2-10 overall and 0-8 in SEC play, a mass exodus to the transfer portal began. This included each of the quarterbacks on the roster.

Vanderbilt has landed a handful of players out of the portal but none truly move the needle. With poor recruiting out of high school, as well, Tennessee should have no issue ending the season with a win.

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