⚡ CFB Dashboard

Tennessee lost its first game of the 2026 season to Texas last week, and while the 20-17 defeat to the No. 1-ranked Longhorns goes down as a big missed opportunity for the Vols, there is still plenty of football left to play this fall for Josh Heupel and his team. Conference play continues on Saturday when Auburn comes to Neyland Stadium, and Tennessee will be looking to notch its first SEC win to start a four-game October slate. With virtually the whole season left, here’s how ESPN’s Football Power Index projects the rest of Tennessee’s season. The updated FPI has Tennessee at No. 11, up five spots from its preseason No. 16 ranking and seven spots from a No. 18 ranking after the first game. An objective metric that changes weekly throughout the season as it gathers more information, the FPI has upped Tennessee’s projected win total by a full game from three weeks ago to 8.1, and the Vols’ College Football Playoff chances also have increased to 22.5%. Tennessee’s remaining schedule ranks just 21st in the FPI’s strength-of-schedule rating. What is the FPI? ESPN’s explanation: “The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule.” Ahead of the Auburn game, here are ESPN’s FPI projections for Tennessee’s eight remaining games: