I don't think I've dismissed the strength of the ACC at all, as much as I've thought that the Coastal and the SEC East were not really that far apart. I think they're very similar, while the Atlantic is top heavy with Clemson and FSU. I even said that the ACC was definitely the best conference last year. They also have better coaches.
To answer your question, I think Tennessee has the chance to be as good as the 2nd toughest team you play or all the way to #7. The reason I say this is because we actually do have a lot of returning talent on defense. You guys are killing me about the Vandy loss (rightfully so), but we were decimated by injuries by that point of the year. UGA has questions on their oline, UNC loses a lot, I think Miami will be good, but replaces Kaaya, I'm not as high VPI as some of you and Duke and UVA have a lot of work to do. Butch has recruited very well and has assembled a very good staff. We could go 10-2, we could go 6-6. It's not a cop out answer, it's just a lot of unknown with this Vol team.