Tennessee Volunteers might be fortunate to win six games this year

It is still almost three months until Tennessee's first game, but it does not hurt to look ahead a little. Obviously, more will be written on this as the season approaches, but a quick look at this year's schedule shows us the Volunteers face a stiff challenge.

Here it is:

Sept. 4 -- vs. UT Martin
Sept. 11 -- vs. Oregon
Sept. 18 -- vs. Florida
Sept. 25 -- vs. Alabama-Birmingham
Oct. 2 -- at LSU
Oct. 9 -- at Georgia
Oct. 23 -- vs. Alabama
Oct. 30 -- at South Carolina
Nov. 6 -- at Memphis
Nov. 13 -- vs. Mississippi
Nov. 20 -- at Vanderbilt
Nov. 27 -- vs. Kentucky

Tennessee will be breaking in a new quarterback as well as having to find five new starters on the offensive line. In many cases, this spells disaster for a team playing in the Southeastern Conference.

The Vols might have to sweat it out just to get the six wins necessary to become bowl eligible.

However, on the bright side, Tennessee will have a better shot at the national championship than Lane Kiffin's USC Trojans. As I am sure most of you know, the NCAA threw the book at USC, giving them four years' probation that includes no bowl games for the next two years.

That's a shame.