Yet another metric is decently high on the Tennessee Volunteers for the 2019 football season.
ESPN released their first version of their ‘Football Power Index’ (FPI) today, placing Tennessee as the 15th best team in the country. This coming just a couple of months after the Vols finished 5-7.
Tennessee’s presence in the top 15 was so surprising, ESPN felt the need to explain themselves.
And if we look at perhaps the most surprising inclusion -- Tennessee -- it’s easy to see why the Volunteers have flown up our board. Tennessee is one of just three FBS schools to return 10 starters on offense (and it brings back 17 overall), including quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, who posted a solid QBR of 67.