Two SEC East programs that flopped hard last fall run it back on Friday night, and the loser walks away with a very hot seat getting hotter.
Bush’s Picks
TENNSC
TENNSC
OverUnder
Best BetTennessee
Tennessee gets the nod here mostly because Jim Knowles is a proven defensive fix and the Vols at least got to 8 wins last year, while South Carolina is still trying to prove 2025's 4-8 nosedive was the outlier and not the true level. It's close, but a functioning defense with an uncertain QB feels safer right now than an explosive-or-bust offense still finding its footing under a new coordinator.
Tennessee
+New DC Jim Knowles has a defensive turnaround track record
−QB competition still unresolved heading toward fall
−Didn't beat a single winning FBS team in 2025
−Heupel facing real hot-seat pressure entering 2026
South Carolina
+LaNorris Sellers turned down NFL/portal to return
+Hired OC Kendal Briles specifically to fit Sellers' skillset
+Flashed a 9-3 ceiling as recently as 2024
−Collapsed to 4-8 in 2025 after that 9-3 year
−Sellers' production dropped hard — TDs down, INTs up
−Beamer also under pressure after the late-game struggles
Tennessee stumbles into this one still figuring out who's actually taking snaps. Josh Heupel's QB room is a three-way puzzle between redshirt freshman George MacIntyre, five-star true freshman Faizon Brandon and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub, and there's no guarantee it's settled by the time the Vols and Gamecocks kick off. South Carolina at least knows its answer: LaNorris Sellers turned down the NFL and the portal to come back, which says plenty about how much faith he has in new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles fixing what went sideways in 2025.
Both jobs are legitimately squeezed right now. Tennessee finished 8-5 last year and didn't beat a single FBS team with a winning record, which is why Heupel gutted his defensive staff and brought in Jim Knowles off Penn State to run things. South Carolina's collapse was uglier on paper — a 9-3 season in 2024 turned into 4-8 a year later — and Shane Beamer answered by handing Briles the keys to an offense that has to be better than the one that wasted Sellers' talent.
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TENN Tennessee
SC South Carolina
Sellers is the swing factor for South Carolina no matter what the market says. His counting stats fell off a cliff in 2025 — 13 touchdowns against 8 interceptions after an 18-TD, 7-INT breakout the year before — and Briles was hired specifically to build around his legs and arm instead of around him. If that scheme fit clicks early, Columbia becomes a much tougher building for anyone to visit, Tennessee included.
Tennessee Volunteers
Oct 16?vs Alabama—
Oct 9?@ Arkansas—
Oct 2?vs Auburn—
Sep 26?vs Texas—
Sep 19?vs Kennesaw State—
Sep 12?@ Georgia Tech—
Sep 5?vs Furman—
South Carolina Gamecocks
Oct 9?@ Florida—
Oct 2?vs Kentucky—
Sep 25?@ Alabama—
Sep 19?vs Mississippi State—
Sep 12?vs Towson—
Sep 5?vs Kent State—
Recent form.
On the other sideline, Tennessee's calling card is whatever Knowles can squeeze out of a defense that let a rival run wild during a Vanderbilt loss the program hadn't dealt with since 2018. A proven defensive coordinator can paper over a lot of offensive uncertainty in year one, and Knowles has a track record of doing exactly that. The question is whether a true freshman or a first-year starter behind center can hold up long enough on the road for it to matter.
Tennessee Volunteers
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
South Carolina Gamecocks
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Neither of these teams looked like the version fans expected a year ago, which makes this an SEC East measuring-stick game dressed up as a get-right spot. Whoever settles their questions first — Tennessee's quarterback battle or South Carolina's offensive identity — probably controls how this one goes.
