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National media outlet names the 'biggest game' on the Tennessee Vols' schedule in 2025

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Zach Ragan | Last updated Jan 26, 2025 12:30 PM ET

The Tennessee Vols will enter the 2025 college football season with the same goal they had in 2024 -- to make the College Football Playoff and bring a national championship trophy back to Knoxville.

Tennessee achieved the first part of that goal in 2024 by making the College Football Playoff, but the Vols' post-season run was short-lived after running into a juggernaut in the Ohio State Buckeyes (the eventual national champs).

If the Volunteers are going to return to the playoff in 2025, they'll once again have to navigate an SEC schedule that features a couple of extremely tough matchups.

Over the weekend, CBS Sports detailed the "biggest" game on each likely top 25 team's schedule and they went with an early season matchup (September 13) against the Georgia Bulldogs for Tennessee.

From CBS Sports: Tennessee has ended significant losing skids against Florida and Alabama -- the Vols and 2-1 against each over the last two years -- under coach Josh Heupel. He has yet to beat Georgia, however, which has largely kept Tennessee from truly competing for an SEC title over the past few seasons.

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The 2024 season showed us that for an SEC team to reach the playoff, they likely need to go 10-2 in the regular season.

That means the Vols will need to win at least one game (while taking care of business in all of their other games) out of these three matchups: at home against Georgia, on the road against Alabama, on the road against Florida.

Tennessee hasn't beat Georgia since 2016, they haven't won in the Swamp since 2003, and they haven't won in Tuscaloosa since 2003.

Essentially, for the Vols to reach the playoff in 2025, they'll need to end at least one of three long streaks.

If you're a Vols fan, it sure would be nice to see Tennessee get a win against Georgia early in the season to take some of the pressure off the team heading into road games later in the year against Alabama and Florida.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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