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SEC Football: Realistic 2019 season goals for every team

By Dakota Cox

ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 01: Head coach Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrate with the trophy after defeating the Georgia Bulldogs 35-28 in the 2018 SEC Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 1, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 01: Head coach Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrate with the trophy after defeating the Georgia Bulldogs 35-28 in the 2018 SEC Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 1, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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COLUMBIA, SC – OCTOBER 27: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts after a play against the South Carolina Gamecocks during their game at Williams-Brice Stadium on October 27, 2018 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC – OCTOBER 27: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts after a play against the South Carolina Gamecocks during their game at Williams-Brice Stadium on October 27, 2018 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Tennessee Volunteers: Make a bowl game

In Jeremy Pruitt’s first season with the Tennessee Volunteers, he carried them to a 5-7 record and failed to reach a bowl game. I’m sure Tennessee fans will be upset that a bowl game is a goal as opposed to being an expectation, but it is the harsh reality that Tennessee has lived in for the past few seasons.

It will take time for the regime change to take full effect in terms of recruiting and development of talent, but Pruitt appears to be on the right track. Assuming Jarrett Guarantano is the team’s starting quarterback, the continuity on offense will be very important.

They key to earning six wins in the regular season is usually finding three of them in the SEC. However, Tennessee has an embarrassingly weak non-conference schedule this season. Assuming they can get by BYU, they should earn four wins outside of SEC games and only need two wins in the conference.

Tennessee’s best chance to get a win will be when they host Vanderbilt at the end of the season. They will also have some pretty good chances against South Carolina and Kentucky. Traveling to Lexington to face Kentucky will be tougher than if it would’ve been in Knoxville, but that is definitely a winnable game for Pruitt and the Tide.

The SEC East is definitely top heavy, so the teams at the bottom of it will have to be fighting for bowl eligibility amongst themselves. Tennessee has the ability to be at the top of that bottom tier, but they will have to find two or three wins in the SEC to get there.

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