Editor's note: This is a series previewing each of the Sooners’ opponents in 2025. OUInsider will rank all 12 games by their significance, difficulty, and entertainment value on a 1-10 scale, publishing each installment based on which team is next in the rankings. This installment focuses on Tennessee, the team ranked 6th in this series.

Oklahoma's trip to Knoxville has nearly every ingredient to be one of the most marquee games on the schedule, both for the Sooners and college football at large.

The reasons are endless. It'll be just the Sooners' second-ever trip to Knoxville in program history and the first time since 2015, when Baker Mayfield led them on a fourth-quarter comeback to an eventual win in overtime. It's also another matchup against current Tennessee head coach and former OU quarterback Josh Heupel. This matchup also comes on November 1, kicking off the last month of the regular season and a pivotal stretch for the Sooners to end the year.

Tennessee beat the Sooners in Norman last season and is coming off a trip to the College Football Playoff. The Sooners made a slew of offseason changes and hope to be in the mix for the CFP when November comes around. What's not to like?

The only hitch? The offseason buzz around Tennessee took a significance nosedive with the departure of quarterback Nico lamaleava to UCLA. They've seemingly replaced him with another Bruins' quarterback, Joey Aguilar, who transferred to UCLA in December before transferring just a few months later to Tennessee after lamaleava's arrival, putting an end to one of the stranger sagas in recent college football history.

Expectations will still be there for Tennessee, but there's now a lot of uncertainty about the team compared to a few months ago.

Here's a look at what the Sooners can expect this fall:

Where: Neyland Stadium

When: 2:30 p.m. or 7 p.m.

TV: TBD

Difficulty: 8/10

Entertainment Value: 8/10

Significance: 8/10

Total score: 24/30

2024 OVERVIEW

Record: 10-3 (6-2 SEC)

Scoring offense: 35.7 points per game (13th)

Scoring defense: 16.1 points per game (7th)

Total offense: 447 yards per game (15th)

Total defense: 293.2 yards per game (6th)

KEY DEPARTURES

QB Nico lamaleava (2,974 total yards, 22 total TD, 5 INT, 63.8% completion)

RB Dylan Sampson (258 carries, 1,491 yards, 22 TD)

WR Dont'e Thornton (26 receptions, 661 yards, 6 TD)

WR Bru McCoy (39 receptions, 472 yards, 2 TD)

DB Will Brooks (59 tackles, 4 TFL, 4 INT)

DL James Pearce Jr. (38 tackles, 13 TFL, 7.5 sacks)

KEY RETURNERS

WR Chris Brazzell II (29 receptions, 333 yards, 2 TD)

LB Arion Carter (68 tackles, 7 TFL, 1 INT)

DL Joshua Josephs (39 tackles, 9 TFL, 1.5 sacks)

KEY ADDITIONS

QB Joey Aguilar (UCLA)

WR Amari Jefferson (Alabama)

CB Colton Hood (Colorado)

1. Can the Vols succeed with Aguilar at quarterback?

It's one thing to lose a starting quarterback (and former five-star prospect) in the offseason. It's another thing to secure a CFP berth with that quarterback, plan the offseason around that quarterback, then lose them late into spring practices.

There are certainly questions about lamaleava's caliber as a quarterback (both now and in the future), but the Vols now have to retool their offense around Aguilar, who didn't arrive until April and has no experience at the Power 4 level.

Aguilar spent two seasons at Diablo Valley Community College before spending the last two years at Appalachian State, throwing for 6,670 yards, 56 touchdowns and 24 interceptions across 25 games. He transferred to UCLA in December before heading to Tennessee to essentially be lamaleava's replacement.

But it's not just retooling the offense around Aguilar, who is more of a pocket passer. The Vols also lost their starting running back and their top two receivers from a year ago. They added seven total players in the transfer portal, and they'll be relying a lot on players who don't have a history of production. However, they did add five-star offensive linemen David Sanders Jr. in the 2025 class.

2. Will the defense take a step back?

That's a big question mark heading into 2025. As explosive as the offense was at times, the defense was the calling card. Opponents scored more than 19 times just three times — three — against the Vols a season ago.

The good news is that 67% of their defensive production from a year ago is returning. The bad news is that doesn't include James Pearce Jr., who was one of the most disruptive defensive linemen in all of college football last season. They should still be good up front and in the middle, but the secondary will be a key group to watch this fall.

The other good news is their schedule is pretty favorable. They don't play anybody notable in non-conference play. Their SEC slate includes a road trip to Alabama and a home game against Georgia. Otherwise? They play Mississippi State, Arkansas, Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt and the Sooners.

Even without lamaleava, the Vols could easily contend for the SEC title again in 2025. But that whole saga completely disrupted their spring and the offseason as a whole, leaving Heupel to retool the offense around an unproven quarterback.

Regardless, the Sooners are tasked with winning a November game on the road in an unfamiliar environment against a program that won 10 games a season ago. While this game is ranked sixth in this series, this could easily end up being one of the most pivotal — and entertaining — games on the schedule.

12. Kent State

11. Illinois State

10. Temple

9. Missouri

8. Ole Miss

7. South Carolina

6. Tennessee

5-1. ???

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