National Analyst Releases Record Prediction For Tennessee

On3 national college football reporter J.D. PicKell released his season prediction for the Tennessee Volunteers, and he appears to be fairly optimistic on them.

The local media is quite high on the Vols heading into 2023. They've watched head coach Josh Heupel operate for two seasons, posting historic offensive totals, producing All-Americans, and, in 2022, Tennessee had its best point differential since the 1993 season.

However, the national media has an inconsistent outlook on Tennessee. On3 has remained fairly consistent in their coverage of the Vols, and national college football reporter J.D. PicKell recently disclosed what he thinks of them heading into this season. "We have to be conservative here because I would love for nothing more than to pick Tennessee to go 11-1 and be a shoo-in for the College Football Playoff," PicKell explained on his show, The Hard Count, which you can view here. "I would love to do that, and heck, we’re going to get closer and closer to prediction season and give your actual College Football Playoff picks. Who’s to say we won’t maybe end up doing that?"

"The schedule itself is going to be a little bit brutal to Tennessee, and so as much as I want to pick them to go 11-1, I’m going to be conservative here. I’m going to pick them to go 9-3 in 2023." PicKell explained his reasoning, echoing most thoughts regarding the orange and white. "I’ll just say this, the formula for them is very, very clear,” PicKell said. “Like Tennessee doesn’t need a ton of things to fall in place. They need two things. Joe Milton to be that dude. And I said it on our Tik Tok for those of y’all that watch that, if Joe Milton plays at a Heisman caliber level and the defense improves 10%, they’re going to be in the College Football Playoff, they’re going to be a double-digit win team."

Most believe that quarterback Joe Milton III ultimately determines Tennessee's ceiling. He's got tons of intangible talent and can make any throw on the field. Milton won Orange Bowl MVP in Tennessee's win over Clemson and has thrown ten touchdowns against zero interceptions with Heupel as his head coach. 

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