It’s a battle between two ranked opponents. Tennessee football is a two-score favorite. College GameDay is coming to town. For the Vols, this year’s matchup with the Florida Gators is wildly different than last year’s.

However, they are connected and not just by the same opponent. When the Vols lost to Florida 38-14 in Gainesville last year, it seemed par for the course for a program in complete disarray.

UT was 2-1 and had no Power Five wins with expectations of a disastrous season. It was their fifth straight loss to Florida and 16th in 17 years. However, Heupel said it was a turning point for them.

“Obviously, we didn’t come out on top,” he said in his Monday press conference. “There’s a lot of things that we didn’t do right, but resetting afterwards that Monday, where we came back in and were just able to show how everything unfolded, and the things that we controlled, I think created a ton of buy-in.”

Indeed, an underrated part of that loss was how close Tennessee football was to making it a game. A few key mistakes made all the difference.

Jimmy Calloway dropped a wide open fourth down pass in Florida territory. Hendon Hooker missed a wide-open Jacob Warren down the sideline. Then Chase McGrath missed a field goal.

Add in numerous penalties, one that killed a sure fourth down conversion, and too many low snaps, and the Vols were blown out. However, they easily could’ve been within a field goal in the fourth.

Florida, meanwhile, lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide a week ago by two. All signs were that they had an elite season coming. As a result, UT players seeing how close they were to making it a game helped.

“I think our players started to see that it was about us, and it was about our preparation,” Heupel said. “We continued to grow, we became more mature, our practice habits changed, and we started playing better football.”

A week after that game, at 2-2, Rocky Top came out and dominated the Missouri Tigers on the road 63-28. That’s the game that signified the emergence of the program under Heupel.

Of course, had this result occurred later in the year, the opposite may have happened. That’s because Florida turned out to be awful. Nobody knew that at the time, though.

This year, the feel is obviously completely different. Based on what Heupel said they were able to build off that game, Tennessee football enters the matchup with a ton of hype. Heupel said this is why you come to UT.

“You want to be a part of these types of games,” he said. “You want to have an opportunity to have College GameDay on your campus and be in the primetime (TV) slot and have a sold out stadium.”

This is probably the most excitement for this once-great rivalry since 2016, the last time Tennessee football won and the last time GameDay came. Florida was heavy favorites against a perceived bad UT team the past four years.

To be fair, both were top 25 in 2017, and that game ended on a Hail Mary, but the rankings seemed like a default. Everybody knew both teams were mediocre, and indeed, they both had four-win seasons and fired their coaches.

Heupel and co. are embracing the excitement that comes with it. They got a taste of it last week when the Vols’ 63-6 win over the Akron Zips saw a shocking sellout.

“We’re excited to see the fan base,” Heupel said of Saturday. “Vol Walk I know will be electric, and when we run out that T, there won’t be a better atmosphere in college football.”

In spite of all this hype, Heupel appears more calm and relaxed than you would think for a coach. Maybe it’s because he’s not as entrenched in the rivalry as a guy with more Big 12 ties historically.

Phillip Fulmer always seemed tight for Florida, for obvious reasons. Derek Dooley and Butch Jones were tight in these type of moments in general. Jeremy Pruitt just never fielded a good enough team to compete.

However, it appears as if Heupel has fielded a good team, and nothing about him gives off a panic vibe. Tennessee football is entering this game with a rare bit of swagger.

“Our kids are extremely confident as they should be,” Heupel said. “They prepare the right way. They’ve worked hard. We continue to grow. They know that preparation’s going to be the most important thing.”

That doesn’t mean the importance of the game is lost on Heupel. He said he learned about 30 seconds after arriving on campus that this game was different.

“This is one of the ball games that this fan base and our players point to too,” he said. “Obviously, being a fan of college football, I’ve seen the great games and the rivalry itself.”