Tomorrow, Tennessee football will take a step in the direction of gaining clarity at its quarterback position for next season. As Joey Aguilar fights for eligibility, the preliminary injunction will be on Friday, Feb. 13, in a Knox County Chancery Court, KnoxNews Adam Sparks reported.
As fans await updates on Aguilar’s status, SEC Podcaster Mike ‘SEC Mike’ Bratton revealed his quarterback rankings in the conference for the 2026 season. He slotted in Aguilar as UT’s starter, but placed him at No. 9 in the SEC.
“He’s a passing machine,” Bratton said. “Threw it all over the yard. Not a super great runner, not totally ineffective by running the football by any means. I think playing for Josh Heupel, playing in this offense, I think he’ll be very, very productive. Again, this isn’t necessarily he’s gonna have the ninth-best stats in the conference, I’m trying to not count stats necessarily if that makes sense.”
Bratton’s co-host, ‘Cousin Shane’ agreed on the positioning at No. 9, but is a bit higher on Agular than Bratton. However, it’s worth noting that Shane is a Vols fan.
“I felt like Joey Aguilar, some of the mistakes he made earlier in the season was basically that chemistry that he didn’t have with those receivers, which now is getting established,” Shane said. “Full off-season, I feel like Joey Aguilar, this is it. There’s not restraining order that’s going to get him back for another season I think, I feel like this may be the right spot. The only reason I say that, Mike, is because there’s a lot of good quarterbacks in this conference, but I do think you’re a little low on Joey.”
2026 SEC QB Rankings 1.0 pic.twitter.com/0rYJVqJjK3
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) February 11, 2026
More From RTI: College Football Pundit Writes Josh Heupel’s Longterm Future May Hinge on Joey Aguilar Decision
Aguilar’s lawsuit against the NCAA fights back against rules that count junior college seasons against a player’s NCAA eligibility.
A judge in a similar Diego Pavia case originally sided with the Vanderbilt quarterback last winter, enacting a temporary restraining order against the NCAA. In response, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to student-athletes who previously played in junior college and ran out of eligibility during the 2024-25 athletic year.
That ruling gave Aguilar an extra-year of eligibility and eventually led to him landing at Tennessee. However, Aguilar played two seasons at Diablo Valley Community College and would have one more year of eligibility remaining if the courts again sided with him and other student-athletes vs. the NCAA.
