Updated Top 25: Tennessee moves up in rankings as Big Ten, Pac-12 opt out of 2020 season

We’re quickly headed towards a fall session of football that will take place without two of the power five conferences. Both the Big Ten and the Pac-12 postponed their seasons last week, each saying they they will attempt to play in the spring instead. We’re now seeing pushback from players, coaches and parents, as figures like Justin Fields desperately attempt to get their seasons back.

For now though, it’s a much more shallow field of contenders for the 2020 season. What happens to the College Football Playoff? The Heisman? Do we have legitimate top 25 polls?

Over at 247Sports, they updated their top 25 over the weekend — without Big Ten or Pac-12 schools. Those omissions pushed Tennessee all the way into the top 15.

Here are a few of their thoughts on the Volunteers in 2020.

There’s a decent chance Tennessee is the team we overhype greatly thanks to a late-season push. Still, it’s hard to ignore a six-game win streak to end the season and the team’s rising talent (and competency) level.

Tennessee pulled off the seemingly impossible — rebounding from early losses to BYU and Georgia State to save their season, ripping off six wins to close the year. Jeremy Pruitt went from dead in the water to sustaining momentum by the start of the winter. His program is a popular choice to take another step forward this season, but they’ll have to navigate a brutal schedule if they want to do that.

The Volunteers are set to play Alabama (2), Georgia (3), Florida (4), Texas A&M (8), Auburn (11) and Kentucky (22). Missouri, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Arkansas round out the 2020 slate.

The full schedule will be released on Monday night at 7 p.m. ET live on SEC Network.