2026 four-star wide receiver prospect Tristen Keys received a crystal ball commitment prediction to Tennessee, according to Tom Loy of 247Sports.

“After talking to some sources, I’m predicting elite class of 2026 receiver Tristen Keys to eventually land with the Volunteers,” Loy said.

Keys ranks as the No. 40 prospect in the class of 2026. He also ranks as the No. 6 wide receiver and No. 2 player in Mississippi, according to 247Sports.

The 6-foot-2, 175 pound wide receiver is from Hattiesburg High School in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Keys unofficially visited Tennessee when the Vols hosted Florida on Oct. 12. The Vols offered Keys a scholarship on April 2.

Tennessee has two commitments in its 2026 recruiting class: Quarterback Faizon Brandon and tight end Carson Sneed.

The Tennessee Volunteers NIL collective, The Volunteer Club, has launched its own media platform, Rock Media. The concept behind Rock Media is straightforward but impactful: to offer Tennessee fans high-quality, behind-the-scenes content without any barriers. From exclusive glimpses into Tennessee athletics to candid interviews with current and former players, the network is designed to bring fans closer to the heart of the action and the athletes they admire.

Rock Media is also set to host several podcasts, including a series in which current athletes will be interviewed, and two more shows still in development. All these will be available on popular podcast platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Adam Breneman, a co-founder of The College Sports Company and a seasoned media personality, is steering the ship. Having successfully navigated traditional media and digital content creation, Breneman is convinced this new approach is in sync with the evolving sports media landscape.

“We believe in going directly to the consumer. Paywalls just don’t make sense for us,” Breneman told Sports Business Journal. “Our goal is to be the go-to spot for fans to connect with their favorite players and, simultaneously, create opportunities for brands to engage with athletes to promote their products.”

Breneman’s collaboration with The Volunteer Club started in August 2023, and after swift negotiations, the two parties finalized a deal to launch Rock Media. Unlike many media projects that rely on outside agencies, this partnership was handled directly, with The College Sports Company managing daily operations and NOCAP Sports overseeing advertising and sponsorship sales.

The network is already on track for notable success. Breneman estimates Rock Media could generate at least $1 million in revenue within its first year, most of which will return to The Volunteer Club.

“We already have a pipeline of advertisers and sponsors with multiple six-figure deals in the pipeline,”’ Breneman said. “So, I give Tennessee a lot of credit for moving fast on it and taking the leap.”

The College Sports Company, which also collaborates with NIL collectives at Penn State, South Carolina, and Louisville, plans to roll out a similar network at the University of Oklahoma soon. Breneman hinted that more partnerships with other schools are on the horizon, although nothing is finalized yet.

“We’re in talks with several universities and collectives, but no deals have been signed so far,” he noted.

With other schools likely to follow Tennessee’s lead, Rock Media could become a blueprint for future NIL-driven media networks, merging athlete promotion, content creation, and fan engagement in a way that feels open, accessible, and exciting for the public.

Week 8 of the 2024 Tennessee high school football season is in the books, and High School on SI has published its fourth computer rankings of the season in the state.

The Class 6A computer rankings shows a new No. 1 team in the state, the Maryville Rebels, who remained undefeated Friday and moved to 7-0. Close behind in the No. 2 spot are the Collierville Dragons, who are coming off a dominant 42-0 win against White Station.

Sevier County remains the No.1 team in the latest Class 5A computer rankings, while a one-loss Beech team rises to the No. 2 spot.

SBLive’s formula was created using its linear algebra-based ranking algorithm inspired by the Colley Bias-Free Ranking Method. Colley’s Method was created by Wes Colley, Ph.D., an astrophysicist at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. He devised his algorithm to help address the subjectivity and controversy regarding BCS college football selections in the 1990s and early 2000s, using a method that used no subjective variables.

Here are SBLive’s latest Tennessee football computer rankings, as of Oct. 14, 2024:

TENNESSEE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COMPUTER RANKINGS

CLASS 6A | CLASS 5A

CLASS 4A | CLASS 3A

CLASS 2A | CLASS 1A

CLASS 2-AAA | CLASS 2-AA | CLASS 2-A

CLASS 8 MAN

— Robin Erickson @sblivesports