Tennessee is only two years removed from touting a College Football Playoff caliber team, but it happened in the wrong format and the wrong season.

The 2022 Vols would’ve hosted Kansas State in a first-round playoff game if the bracket had already expanded to 12 teams.

So breaking into the CFP this season isn’t a pipe dream. It could happen, and here’s how.

Tennessee football’s best-case scenario in 2024?

Vols host College Football Playoff game

In a 12-team playoff, the four highest-ranked conference champions will get a first-round bye. The next four seeds will host the bottom four seeds in the first round.

UT could host a first-round game at Neyland Stadium by being the second-best or perhaps third-best team in the SEC. That would mean an 11-1 record and likely trip to the SEC title game or maybe a 10-2 record.

If the Vols beat NC State, split the Oklahoma and Alabama games and lose to Georgia, then a playoff bid likely would be in cards. Whether that meant a home game would depend on the resumes of other playoff teams.

TENNESSEE 2024 SEASON PREDICTIONS Game-by-game picks for Vols

Beat Alabama in Neyland Stadium again

UT had already shown that it could reverse the curse of Nick Saban when it beat Alabama in 2022, which triggered an unforgettable fan-storming at Neyland Stadium.

So why couldn’t the Vols defeat an Alabama team coached by Kalen DeBoer?

It could be quite the matchup in the third Saturday in October.

To that point, Alabama will be favored in every game except a home tilt against Georgia. So the Crimson Tide could be 5-1 or 6-0 and ranked in the top 10 when it travels to Knoxville.

That would make a win over Alabama that much sweeter for the Vols.

Double Heisman buzz, even for a short time

UT quarterback Nico Iamaleava has gotten preseason Heisman Trophy buzz despite starting only one game as a freshman last season.

And UT edge rusher James Pearce was ranked the No. 1 player in college football by ESPN.com.

Don’t pencil in either for the New York ceremony just yet. But there’s a plausible scenario where both players could earn Heisman consideration during the season, even for a short time.

If UT’s offense returns to its record-breaking production of 2021 and 2022, Iamaleava would rack up eye-popping stats. And although defensive players rarely get Heisman attention, Pearce could grab the spotlight temporarily with multiple sacks in UT’s key games.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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A Tennessee mom says she doesn’t want to volunteer in her kids’ classrooms or for their extracurricular activities — and said she’s “found her community” after posting a video on TikTok explaining that she’s a proud “Venmo mom.”

“I don’t know about anyone else out there, but ‘Meet the Teacher’ is super stressful because I do not want to be involved at all,” Casey Neal, 31 and a mother of four, said in her video that has grabbed at least 450,000 views. 

“I will make sure my kids obviously do their homework and get to school on time … but I don’t want to be on PTO, PTA, room mom, team mom — I don’t want to do any of that.”

Neal indicated that when the start of a school year or sports season rolls around, she gets ready to duck.

“I start getting real stressed when they start asking for volunteers,” Neal said in her video. 

“I’m like, ‘Oh no, I know they’re judging me because I’m not raising my hand,’ but I don’t want to do all that extra sh–,” she said. “I don’t want to come in. I don’t want to set up.”

But she’s more than happy to Venmo money to help with whatever is needed, she said.

“If the room mom needs money for everyone to participate, fine. I’ll Venmo money right over,” Neal said in her video. 

“I do not want to set up for it. I don’t want to do it.”

This year, to avoid the stress, she said she made that perfectly clear to all the classroom and team organizers. 

Neal and her husband have four kids — ages 11, 7, 5 and 3 — who are involved in all kinds of activities, such as cheerleading, baseball, football and more.

“I even told one of the coaches today that I am a ‘Venmo mom,’” Neal said.

Neal, who worked as a district manager and ran five stores for Andy’s Frozen Custard until moving to Knoxville this year, said her job made it difficult for her to attend school functions during the work day. 

And that didn’t seem to sit well with some people.

“When I wasn’t as involved as the other moms, I didn’t feel very welcome in certain situations,” Neal told Fox News Digital. 

“My two youngest, they went to a private school before we moved, and they had a bike day, where you brought their bike or their scooter, and [some people] were like, ‘Oh, you’re not staying?’ Or, ‘Oh, you’re not staying for the party?’ I’m thinking, ‘Does nobody work anymore?’”

Neal said she also had a bad experience with some cheer moms a couple of years ago. 

“Their practices are two to three hours long,” Neal said. 

“So I just come back and pick up [her daughter] when practice is over. There was a mom who was talking very poorly of me, and this is one of the practices I happened to go to. When she realized I was there, her face dropped. There was even a dad there who was, like, ‘Not cool.’”

Said Neal, “I don’t need that drama in my life or in my kids’ life.”

“We’re here to set examples, and if they’re talking poorly in front of all the parents, I’m sure some kids heard some stuff. I just don’t think that’s necessary.”

That’s when Neal realized she could avoid all the trouble and still help out by donating her money rather than her time. 

Thousands of people agreed with her — all for their own reasons.

“I’ll literally pay for the entire event, just don’t make me actually go,” one viewer of Neal’s video said. 

“This is so me. Just let me know how much money and I will send it,” another viewer said. 

“As an introvert, please don’t ask me. I’ll send all the money and cheer in the audience, though,” another person commented.

“This. Can we normalize this?” another person commented. 

“You need door prizes, meals donated, crafts? I’ll drop it at the office. I’m not staying,” another viewer stated.

What’s even more validating, Neal told Fox News Digital, are the comments of appreciation for “Venmo moms” by the ones organizing the events.

“There is a place for everyone,” one viewer commented. 

“As a room mom and team mom, I can’t thank you enough for being a Venmo mom,” someone else added.

“As a room mom, I love Venmo moms,” another viewer said.

Neal said she now has a community of moms who are supportive of this behind-the-scenes role.

“Not to sound cheesy, but I just thought it was really beautiful,” Neal said. 

“Never did I think my rant would go off. But the comments and women supporting each other in the comments and supporting me meant a lot. It takes all kinds of people doing all kinds of things,” she added.

“We’re all there for the same reason. We just contribute in different ways. I just thought it was really beautiful and positive.”

There were a few who disagreed with the notion of not giving time to an important cause, such as a child’s education experience or extracurricular activities — and they didn’t mind saying so.

“I do want to be involved [because] I wish my mom was when I was a kid,” one viewer commented. 

“Your kids would love to see you helping,” someone else said.

“I was a Venmo mom until I lost my son last year. This year I’m doing everything to be involved in my daughter’s life. Every moment counts,” another user wrote.

Others said that they didn’t really want to volunteer their time — but they’re willing to take one for the team.

“As a new PTA president, I don’t want to do it either, yet here we are,” another said. 

“I don’t want to either. I do it to make sure my kids have the best experience [they] can. It’s not really about me at all,” someone else commented. 

“My thoughts are if everyone felt like that, then the kids would have a sh—- experience in school,” another person said. 

“So I suck it up and volunteer so the kids can have fun or whatever else it’s for.”

Neal said her kids love seeing her in the stands and they know she’s there to support them in all their activities.

“I love being on the sidelines. That, for me, is the biggest thing,” said Neal. 

“But as far as being in charge, being a team mom, a room mom, I’m just not good at planning, and there are people who want to do that. I will get a teacher whatever they need to make them successful, to help make the class successful, but I just don’t want to be in charge.”

Neal added, “And the teen moms, they seem to have it under control. They don’t need me.”

The Tennessee Titans and the other 31 NFL teams will have to cut their rosters down to 53 players by tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT, which means a lot of roster reshuffling will take place.

The Titans not only have to look at their own roster for who they wish to keep, but they also have to keep an eye on other teams to see if they cut any players that they may want instead.

Bleacher Report suggests that the Titans may want to pick up offensive lineman Jackson Carman, who was cut over the weekend by the Cincinnati Bengals.

“The Titans are still working on rebuilding an offensive line that was among the league’s worst units last season. Fortunately, they have a secret weapon in Bill Callahan. He’s one of the league’s best offensive line coaches and his ability to develop players should help,” Bleacher Report writes. “It should also allow the Titans to take a shot on some players with talent who haven’t worked out yet. Jackson Carman is a perfect example. The Bengals just waived the former second-round pick, but he’s still only 24 years old so there might be some development to come. He should be on the Titans’ radar.”

It should also be noted that Carman worked for three years with Titans head coach Brian Callahan while he was the offensive coordinator in Cincinnati, so that familiarity could make this a strong fit as well.

Carman played in all 17 games in his rookie year, and he appeared in Super Bowl LVI against the Los Angeles Rams. However, he has only appeared in seven total games since. The last time Carman started came in the 2022 playoffs, where the Bengals lost in the AFC Championship Game to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Carman wouldn’t be asked to step in right away for the Titans, but he could help the team’s depth in the trenches at multiple positions, especially at right tackle, where Nicholas Petit-Frere narrowly won the starting job and right guard, where Dillon Radunz is currently the starter.

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