Does Tennessee have an “Easy Path” in the SEC?

In peak dead season form, CBS ranked the SEC’s strength of schedule. Because it’s May, let’s talk about it! Tom Fornelli ranked each SEC school by strength of schedule, considering time of bye weeks, what games follow along with where each contest will be held.

His results have the Vols with the 3rd easiest path in the conference. I just have a hard time believing a team that draws Alabama and LSU out of the west has the 3rd easiest path. Throw in a trip to the swamp on top of that and that’s three really tough games.

But the SEC East is still no juggernaut. The Vols do get South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Georgia at home, too. Road trips to Missouri and Kentucky are no slam dunks, however. That opener against Georgia Tech and the triple option won’t be a cake walk either.

We’ll go much deeper on the schedule later on in the Summer. I guess on paper I could see how Tennessee’s schedule looks like one of the lighter ones in the league. They just suffered so much loss on the roster after last season that it’s still hard to imagine anything more than 7-9 wins realistically, but you never know. Maybe the new blood is better than we are all expecting.