I Simulated Tennessee’s 2026 Season on the College Football 27 Video Game Five Times

Next week, Tennessee football takes the podium at SEC Media Days to preview fall camp and the upcoming 2026 season. That marks the official countdown to football season, as the Vols embark on year six under Josh Heupel.

To preview the year, I ran five simulations in the recently released College Football 27 video game from EA Sports to see how UT would fare. Before you ask, Faizon Brandon is not in the game yet, and George MacIntyre is the top-rated quarterback on the roster, so he manned quarterback in each game.

Here are the results:

Simulation 1

• Schedule
  • vs. FCS Southeast (Furman): 58-13 W
  • at Georgia Tech: 38-36 W
  • vs. Kennesaw State: 58-7 W
  • vs. Texas: 52-31 W
  • vs. Auburn: 52-28 W
  • at Arkansas: 52-24 W
  • vs. Alabama: 31-20 W
  • at No. 5 South Carolina: 31-14 L
  • vs. Kentucky: 38-17 W
  • at Texas A&M: 47-28 W
  • vs. No. 17 LSU: 45-28 W
  • at Vanderbilt: 38-31 L
  • CFP FIRST ROUND
    • vs. No. 11 Oregon: 42-20 W
  • CFP QUARTERFINALS (Peach Bowl)
    • vs. No. 4 SMU: 38-34 L

• Final Ranking
  • No. 8

• Stat Leaders
  • QB George MacIntyre
    • 69% completion, 4,317 yards, 43 TD, 9 INT
  • RB DeSean Bishop
    • 271 carries, 1,735 yards, 18 TD
  • WR Braylon Staley
    • 118 receptions, 1,266 yards, 7 TD
  • WR Radarious Jackson
    • 79 receptions, 1,225 yards, 14 TD
  • LB Edwin Spillman
    • 104 tackles, 2 TFL, 1.0 sack, 3 INT
  • DE Tyree Weathersby
    • 44 tackles, 13 TFL, 9.5 sacks
  • CB Kayin Lee
    • 63 tackles, 4 INT

Simulation 2

• Schedule
  • vs. FCS Southeast (Furman): 56-21 W
  • at Georgia Tech: 27-7 W
  • vs. Kennesaw State: 37-13 W
  • vs. Texas: 52-21 L
  • vs. Auburn: 42-14 W
  • at Arkansas: 52-50 L
  • vs. Alabama: 33-16 W
  • at No. 8 South Carolina: 43-24 L
  • vs. Kentucky: 29-12 W
  • at No. 18 Texas A&M: 35-29 W
  • vs. No. 10 LSU: 38-20 L
  • at Vanderbilt: 40-10 W
  • LAS VEGAS BOWL
    • vs. Utah State: 35-21 W

• Final Ranking
  • Unranked

• Stat Leaders
  • QB George MacIntyre
    • 66% completion, 3,738 yards, 30 TD, 7 INT
  • RB DeSean Bishop
    • 175 carries, 1,145 yards, 9 TD
  • WR Braylon Staley
    • 125 receptions, 1,1336 yards, 3 TD
  • WR Radarious Jackson
    • 74 receptions, 1,017 yards, 12 TD
  • LB Amare Campbell
    • 111 tackles, 1 TFL, 0.5 sacks
  • DE Mariyon Dye
    • 48 tackles, 19 TFL, 11.5 sacks
  • S Edrees Farooq
    • 48 tackles, 2 TFL, 4 INT

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Simulation 3

• Schedule
  • vs. FCS Southeast (Furman): 49-21 W
  • at Georgia Tech: 22-16 W
  • vs. Kennesaw State: 42-3 W
  • vs. Texas: 49-35 L
  • vs. Auburn: 51-45 W
  • at Arkansas: 34-27 L
  • vs. Alabama: 42-38 W
  • at No. 2 South Carolina: 34-3 W
  • vs. Kentucky: 38-19 L
  • at Texas A&M: 28-21 W
  • vs. LSU: 33-28 W
  • at Vanderbilt: 37-3 W
  • LAS VEGAS BOWL
    • vs. San Diego State: 39-37 L

• Final Ranking
  • No. 22

• Stat Leaders
  • QB George MacIntyre
    • 58% completion, 3,769 yards, 27 TD, 5 INT
  • RB DeSean Bishop
    • 212 carries, 1,607 yards, 18 TD
  • WR Radarious Jackson
    • 71 receptions, 1,139 yards, 10 TD
  • LB Amare Campbell
    • 91 tackles, 5 TFL, 1.0 sack
  • DE Tyree Weathersby
    • 34 tackles, 16 TFL, 12.0 sacks
  • S Dejuan Lane
    • 72 tackles, 3 INT

Simulation 4

• Schedule
  • vs. FCS Southeast (Furman): 49-12 W
  • at Georgia Tech: 24-22 W
  • vs. Kennesaw State: 56-14 W
  • vs. Texas: 42-21 W
  • vs. Auburn: 31-23 W
  • at Arkansas: 45-17 W
  • vs. Alabama: 41-38 W
  • at No. 7 South Carolina: 30-22 W
  • vs. Kentucky: 40-34 L
  • at No. 24 Texas A&M: 41-38 L
  • vs. LSU: 31-23 W
  • at Vanderbilt: 29-17 W
  • CFP FIRST ROUND
    • at No. 7 South Carolina: 31-24 W
  • CFP QUARTERFINALS (Fiesta Bowl)
    • vs. No. 3 Kansas State: 28-27 L

• Final Ranking
  • No. 10

• Stat Leaders
  • QB George MacIntyre
    • 63% completion, 4,422 yards, 41 TD, 12 INT
  • RB DeSean Bishop
    • 269 carries, 1,910 yards, 14 TD
  • WR Braylon Staley
    • 110 receptions, 1,364 yards, 7 TD
  • WR Radarious Jackson
    • 84 receptions, 1,252 yards, 15 TD
  • CB Ty Redmond
    • 95 tackles, 2 TFL, 0.5 sacks, 1 INT
  • DE Tyree Weathersby
    • 37 tackles, 15 TFL, 8.5 sacks
  • CB Kayin Lee
    • 50 tackles, 2 INT

Simulation 5

• Schedule
  • FCS Southeast (Furman): 45-7 W
  • at Georgia Tech: 48-14 W
  • vs. Kennesaw State: 65-10 W
  • vs. Texas: 44-42 L
  • vs. Auburn: 50-14 L
  • at Arkansas: 30-23 W
  • vs. No. 16 Alabama: 49-21 W
  • at South Carolina: 41-38 L
  • vs. Kentucky: 37-3 W
  • at Texas A&M: 38-15 L
  • vs. No. 20 LSU: 33-21 W
  • at Vanderbilt: 34-20 W
  • TEXAS BOWL
    • vs. Colorado: 41-10 W

• Final Ranking
  • No. 18

• Stat Leaders
  • QB George MacIntyre
    • 58% completion, 3,795 yards, 28 TD, 6 INT
  • RB DeSean Bishop
    • 246 carries, 1,362 yards, 8 TD
  • WR Braylon Staley
    • 100 receptions, 1,188 yards, 6 TD
  • WR Radarious Jackson
    • 73 receptions, 959 yards, 10 TD
  • S TJ Metcalf
    • 63 tackles, 3 INT
  • DE Tyree Weathersby
    • 56 tackles, 25 TFL, 14.0 sacks
  • S Dejuan Lane
    • 60 tackles, 4 INT

Results

• vs. FCS Southeast (Furman): 5-0
• at Georgia Tech: 5-0
• vs. Kennesaw State: 5-0
• vs. Texas: 2-3
• vs. Auburn: 4-1
• at Arkansas: 3-2
• vs. Alabama: 5-0
• at South Carolina: 3-3 (including CFP win)
• vs. Kentucky: 3-2
• at Texas A&M: 3-2
• vs. LSU: 4-1
• at Vanderbilt: 4-1

• CFP appearance in 2-out-of-5 sims
• Las Vegas Bowl in 2-out-5 sims
• Texas Bowl in 1-out-of-5 sims