Tennessee football won eight games in 2025, marking the first time it had failed to reach nine victories in a season since Josh Heupel was named coach of the Vols in 2021.
The Vols are set to face four ranked teams this season and a new nine-game SEC schedule while breaking in a freshman quarterback, so reestablishing the nine-win floor Heupel had set for this program won't be easy.
Here are the three games that will define the season for Tennessee football in 2026.
On paper and in the polls, UT looks like the better team and a likely favorite to knock off the Yellow Jackets, even on the road. But first-year quarterback Faizon Brandon will still be an unknown commodity by the time the Vols arrive in Atlanta for their second game.
The Vols host FCS foe Furman in the season opener on Sept. 5 (3:30 p.m., SEC Network+, ESPN+). and Brandon shouldn't expect to meet much resistance, nor to play four full quarters in that game. The SEC slate that follows promises to be tougher to navigate, but how Brandon reacts to a road environment at Bobby Dodd Stadium will say a lot about how truly ready he is to lead UT for the remainder of the season.

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