Time will tell how good of a coach Jeremy Pruitt will be. And, year one won’t make him. However, there are some must-win games on the schedule.

Jeremy Pruitt seems to be the coach Tennessee football fans have wanted for the past ten seasons. Derek Dooley, Butch Jones, and even Lane Kiffin have taken one of the most passionate fanbases in the nation and gutted them game after game.

But, maybe losing in excruciating fashion is what it means to be a Tennessee fan. Year after year it seems like the Vols lose in ways that only could be written for movie scripts. And, they even lose games they are supposed to win.

Take the 2016 season for example. Tennessee beat Florida and Georiga and was in the driver seat to win the Eastern division. Vol fans have desperately salivated over a trip back to Atlanta for years. It has been far too long for the folks on Rocky Top. But, what happens, two losses to South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

The 2018 season could no doubt be a harsh ride for Pruitt and company. Tennessee may have the toughest five-game stretch in the nation. It begins with Florida at Neyland Stadium on September 22nd and ends with South Carolina in Columbia on October 27th.

Mixed in the middle is a trip to Athens to play the Bulldogs, to Auburn, and the annual “Third Saturday in October.”

However, there are a couple of must-win games on the schedule that the Vols can’t afford to lose if they want to make it to a bowl game. In this post, we will break down five must-win games and rank them by importance.