Josh Heupel: Tennessee's journey to a championship 'goes through the East'

No team made more progress as a program in 2022 than Tennessee. Josh Heuepel delivered in some big games, mainly taking down Alabama in Knoxville. An Orange Bowl win against Clemson was a big deal for the Vols as well, winning a BCS/New Year’s Six bowl game for the first time since the 1998 national championship game.

The NY6 is a good place but Huepel wants to get back to playing in those championship games. First step would be getting to Atlanta for the SEC Championship, revealing that’s the “next step” for Tennessee. Heupel hopes to accomplish his goal soon and preferably, doing so in the 2023 season.

“Real simple for us,” Huepel said during an appearance on SEC Nation. “At the end of the day, you want to play in championship games. For us in ’23, that goes through the East. A lot of work to be put in to put ourselves in a position and accomplish that. Really love what our guys have done to this point of the offseason and looking forward to getting going here with training camp here next week.”

If Tennessee is going to win the SEC East, there is a pretty big elephant in the room. The back-to-back national champions reside in the division with Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs. Everyone has them penciled in to win the conference let alone the division.

Last season’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in Athens was more or less a resounding Georgia victory. It was the first real road test for Tennessee during the season and ultimately, resulted in a two-touchdown loss between the hedges.

Getting the Dawgs in Knoxville will certainly help. Oct. 15, 2022, against Alabama proved Tennessee is able to knock off college football superpowers in Neyland Stadium. The date you will be looking for this season is Nov. 18, 2023 — the second to last week of the regular season.

There are still other things Tennessee has to clean up. Hendon Hooker went down with an injury but still played the majority of the blowout loss to South Carolina. The Vols’ defense gave up over 600 total yards to Spencer Rattler and Co.

And then there is a return to Tuscaloosa for what should be a ruckus crowd at Bryant-Denny Stadium on the Third Saturday of October. Heupel’s squad will certainly not be scared of the Crimson Tide after last year’s win but Tennessee has not won there since 2003.

Point being — if Vol Nation is going to travel to Atlanta for the first time since 2007, there are going to be a fresh set of tests to pass. But Heupel built up confidence by proving Tennessee is legit on the field last season. Now, getting over another set of humps to play in a championship game is the goal.