How concerned should Tennessee’s rivals be about Vols recruiting success?

So what if the Tennessee Volunteers are crushing it with recruiting? Until they starting beating their big three rivals consistently, it won’t matter.

The Tennessee Volunteers are dominating in recruitment this spring.

According to 247Sports, Tennessee has the No. 2 class in the 2021 cycle behind only the Ohio State Buckeyes. While the bulk of the Vols’ 21 commitments for 2021 are of the three-star variety, they do have a pair of five-stars in linebacker Terrence Lewis and defensive end Dylan Brooks.

While Tennessee is off to a fantastic start on the recruiting trails in Jeremy Pruitt’s third season as head coach, the only thing that really matters is how the Vols go about defeating three of their biggest rivals on fall Saturdays in the years to come. Until they beat the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Florida Gators or the Georgia Bulldogs regularly, nobody will care about how recruitment is going.

Tennessee plays these three rivals annually with Florida and Georgia in the same SEC East division and Alabama as the cross-divisional rival out of the SEC West. Alabama has not lost to Tennessee since Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa back in 2007. Though Tennessee has beaten its SEC East rivals recently, Florida and Georgia have had the upper hand over the Vols more often than not.

Even with Tennessee making great strides last year, the Vols went 8-5 and almost lost to the Indiana Hoosiers in the Gator Bowl. Three of their five losses came to Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The Gators and the Dawgs won their New Year’s Six Bowls over the Virginia Cavaliers and the Baylor Bears respectively, while the Crimson Tide rolled the Michigan Wolverines in Orlando.

Are the Vols heading in the right direction? Absolutely, but to think they’ll be any better than 9-3 (5-3) during the regular season would be lunacy. Let’s not forget they have a road date with the Big 12 powerhouse that is the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman, so we’re looking at 8-4 (5-3) for Tennessee football this fall. That’s fine, but it’s not anywhere good enough to get to Atlanta.

Does Tennessee have a shot at beating any of their three biggest SEC rivals? Sure, as they host Alabama and Florida at Neyland this year. While going into Sanford Stadium feels like a certain loss for Tennessee, keep in mind Georgia is starting a graduate transfer quarterback in Jamie Newman this season. Georgia should be a better team than Tennessee, but the Dawgs can totally be upset.

With the way Tennessee finished the season after losing embarrassing ball games to the Georgia State Panthers and the BYU Cougars at home, it’s clear that Pruitt is the right head coach for this program. Despite the 0-2 hole he put his team in, Tennessee only lost to Alabama, Florida and Georgia the rest of the way in 2019. Not bad all things considered.

As long as Tennessee is able to hold its own vs. its other SEC East rivals in the Kentucky Wildcats, the Missouri Tigers, the South Carolina Gamecocks and the in-state rival Vanderbilt Commodores, the Vols will position themselves to rise up the SEC hierarchy if they can rattle off an upset win every now and then.

2020 for Tennessee has the feel of what the Texas A&M Aggies went through last year. Are the Vols improving? Yes, but the season schedule is too darn daunting to navigate. Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma are four of the top 10 teams in the country. Tennessee shouldn’t be expected to beat any of them, especially Oklahoma in Norman and Georgia in Athens.

However, Tennessee can be a better team than it was last year, despite being two wins worse. The Vols feel like an 8-4 team who could get to 9-3 with a lucky break or two. Unfortunately, those breaks may be harder to come by this. 7-5 or even 6-6 feels like a more probable outcome here. They can keep winning on the recruiting trails, but winning on the gridiron is what only matters.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.