Predictions for Tennessee football have been all over the place for the 2026 season. Some think the quarterback situation is overblown and the defense will return to strength, making a really solid team. Others are skeptical of a young quarterback taking the reins and a new defensive coordinator, leading to a rough year on Rocky Top.
On3 show Crain & Cone released their post-spring camp top-25, and it’s easy to see which side they are on. The Vols were not listed in their rankings.
Instead, Crain & Cone listed 10 other SEC teams in the rankings instead of Tennessee. This featured No. 2 Georiga, No. 3 Texas, No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 10 LSU, No. 11 Oklahoma, No. 12 Alabama, No. 21 Missouri, No. 24 South Carolina and No. 25 Florida.
Crain & Cone’s 2026 Post-Spring Top-25
What’s your biggest takeaway from our latest preseason ranking? https://t.co/WYZHo5aTXt pic.twitter.com/n7sgEYuzL6
Advertisement— Crain & Cone (@crainandcone) May 4, 2026
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This comes after Paul Finebaum made an appearance on the Crane & Cone show and shared his pessimism about where Josh Heupel’s program is headed. He pointed to the quarterback situation as to why he’s not confident UT will put together a strong season.
“I bring Josh Heupel up — I like him, he has made the playoffs one time, but he’s been there, what, four or five years?” Finebaum said. “And it feels like the program is going in the wrong direction. That should not happen, and it’s a very bad sign for a name-brand program. Maybe I’m old school enough to still believe that Tennessee is one of those schools that should always be at or near the top.
“But the end of last season was a complete disaster. Losing at home to Oklahoma, and they also lost at home to Vanderbilt. Badly lost a bowl game. You can’t let that happen. And then, they got some bad luck in court, losing Aguilar, but they don’t have a quarterback. And you guys all tell me how you can win the SEC without a quarterback.”
The quarterback job will be a three-man competition that leaks into fall camp. Heupel will be picking between true freshman Faizon Brandon, redshirt-freshman George MacIntyre and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub.
