Can Tennessee Volunteers make a bowl this year?

Can Tennessee Volunteers make a bowl?

Well, did they LAST year?

The answer might require a little more thought, I mean, teams can get better from one year to the next…and they can also go backwards too….

So the question for the Volunteer fans is this: can Tennessee qualify for a bowl?

To get a good answer, we have to look at a few elements, including how they fared last year, who they play this year, and how they have done so far.

For any college football program in Division I, the number one objective is to first win the minimum number of games to qualify for a bowl. So the question first is, can Tennessee win six games?

To answer that, we have to first jump back a year. This is a team that won 5 games last year in the very tough SEC conference. The season started out with a loss to UCLA in California before a win over UAB to even the record to 1-1. A “respectable” loss to Florida at Rocky Top dropped them to 1-2, but with the hopes that maybe this team could compete in the SEC.

But losing to Auburn away sunk them further, and it didn’t help that Tennessee barely escaped Northern Illinois at home, 13-9. This once mighty team had a 2-3 record, and not very impressive.

Another road loss to Georgia and a home win over hapless Miss State ran the record to 3-4 before losing two conference games back-to-back, dropping games to Alabama and South Carolina, and not even scoring more than 10 points in either game.

Ugh.

A loss to Wyoming put Tennessee at 3-6, and no chance for post season. But oddly enough, THAT is when they put together a few wins, beating Vanderbilt away and Kentucky at home.

So…how does that change this year?

Beating Western Kentucky 63-10 proves nothing and almost smells like a first time coach trying to impose his will on the weak. Anybody can be a bully for a weekend….

So then the chance comes to put up or shut up against UCLA, a team that beat Tennessee on the West Coast last year…and as it turns out, nothing changed but the date on the calendar. The Volunteers lost by 3 last year to UCLA…lost by 4 this year in their own home.

So now this weekend they have to go to see about a Gator…and to eat some crow. There is no doubt that nobody is picking Tennessee to win, it would be a moral victory if they lose by less than 3 touchdowns, but with Lane Kiffin popping his chops, this might be more about taming a shrew than just a game.

So we can go ahead and put Tennessee at 1-2, right?

The Volunteers then have three straight home games against Ohio, who was 4-8 last year, then Auburn, who was 5-7 but beat Tennessee last year, and Georgia, who was 10-3, and spanked Tennessee last year.

I am willing to believe Tennessee can split the SEC home games, and win over Ohio, so I can see them coming out of this with a 3-3 record.

They then travel TO Alabama, then home for two more games (South Carolina and Memphis). I can’t see them beating Alabama, and I have doubts about South Carolina too, but it’s not impossible. So the Volunteers can come out of this either 5-4, or 4-5.

But playing Mississippi could be a problem, if they are as good as people think they are…personally I am not fully convinced, but I do think they are better than Tennessee. So with two games left in the season, Tennessee would, by my guesses, be struggling to qualify for a bowl, at either 5-5 or 4-6. If the latter, then the last two games are of HUGE importance.

As it turns out, it is a repeat of last year, playing Vanderbilt and Kentucky, the only difference is the location. Vandy at home, Kentucky away. Tennessee handily beat both teams last year…they might NEED to do so this year to get to a bowl.

So if the question is whether Tennessee can make it to a bowl, my answer is yes they can…but the margin for error is razor thin. If I give Tennessee the last two games, they would either finish 7-5 or 6-6...that is cutting it close.

Still, either way it is a step in the right direction since last year they were 5-7. But losing 4 out of 5 road games ain’t cool, perhaps that’s why they figured out how to give them only FOUR this year. With eight scheduled home games, you BETTER qualify for a bowl game, I can’t imagine how much money will be spent filling up Neyland Stadium.

We’ll get a true measure AFTER the Florida game, I think the Auburn game will tell us much more…heaven forbid if they lose BIG to Florida and then lose to Ohio…oh the agony.

We shall see…..

Will Florida CRUSH Tennessee?

Should Florida CRUSH Tennessee?

This is a hard question for me, because I have some biases about this game. First off, I live in ACC country, so to talk about SEC matchups is kinda odd to begin with. But there is no question that the SEC is better, it has been proven several times in the last few years.

But this Tennessee vs. Florida game is pretty big because there is a promise of a major beat down. But my problem is that Lane Kiffin, the head coach of Tennessee, is a former Oakland Raider coach…and I am a HEAVY Raider fan.

And I felt sorry for how Monty Burns….er….Al Davis, ran him out of the NFL. At that time he looked like the guy that was stepped on by the mean ole grumpy businessman, and had a lot of sympathy votes. So when Tennessee called him up, it just seemed like the great fit.

And I was a very big fan of Tennessee, I have always admired their very strong fan base and they have been a great team up until recently. But I personally felt that the alumni of Tennessee was too hasty in getting rid of their former head coach because they wanted to be in the National Title hunt every single year. It lends to the phrase, “what have you done for me lately”…of which Janet Jackson made famous years ago.

I lost respect for Tennessee for getting rid of a good coach, and hiring one with virtually NO experience…this just didn’t really add up unless they were hoping that Lane Kiffin’s NFL aura could recruit more talent to Tennessee.

So I have mixed feelings for the Volunteers. I have admired the school for a long time, but lately I kinda feel like they listened to rich alumni rather than being patient. But it didn’t help one bit when Kiffin stepped into the college spotlight by opening his big mouth about what Tennessee was going to do.

What is his pedigree in winning…mind you, not his dad’s but Lane himself? How can a guy that had a bad record with the Raiders can come across the country and pop his chops as if he won the Superbowl? Come on now, being confident is one thing…being arrogant is quite another.

So now Lane Kiffin has written a check that is bigger than the stadium he coaches in…not very wise. Sometimes when coaches get God-like egos, it is nice to see it popped. When Steve Spurrier was the head coach at Florida, he used to run up the score a lot. When he got the head coach’s job for the Washington Redskins, he thought he could do the same thing during preseason, but learned a HUGE lesson about doing that. His coaching career didn’t last so long in the NFL…

So now Lane Kiffin has called the thunder, of the best team in the country, and playing in the “Swamp”, with a team that was 5-7 last year, already lost their first game of the season, and playing Florida, who beat them handily last year in their own house. Does this smell like a legendary beat down to you?

It ought to.

And I gotta tell you, I am not the biggest Florida fan, since I like Florida State more, but I have no problem cheering for Florida this year. Tim Tebow has been like the ray of sunshine to the sport, and all I ever hear is good things about him. I have to give major props to the coach, because Urban Meyer is trying to prepare his quarterback for the NFL, rather than just running the same system. This is a man that is trying to help his player, who helped them win a National Championship. I see nothing but honor in that.

I remember years ago when Emmitt Smith was playing for Florida, when Steve Spurrier took over. It was said that the “ole ball coach” told Smith that if he was going to play on the Gator team, he had to play it HIS way…so Emmitt Smith decided to go pro a little earlier…and the rest as they say…is history for Emmitt Smith, but for Steve Spurrier as well, both having legendary careers.

For a long time I didn’t like Florida, not really hate them (come on folks, it’s just a game) but up until recently I have set a place in my heart for Florida. I like the way they play and they seem to be as professional as students can be.

So, if you asked me who I am pulling for, I would say Florida…BIG. I think beating Tennessee by 35 points would be an understatement. If they were playing at Tennessee, the score would be less, but at home, you don’t have to show any mercy to anybody. Lane Kiffin will go 1-2 and start to eat those words he spit out when he took to that podium. I see this game possibly ending up maybe 45-10, maybe even higher…

And somewhere in California, Al Davis is laughing and saying… “excellent”, as only Monty Burns could say.

Good luck on qualifying for a bowl this year Tennessee.