Top 10 Ways to Define Success for the 2015 Tennessee Vols Football Season
Jan 2, 2015; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Jason Croom (18) kisses the trophy after their 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at EverBank Field. The Tennessee Volunteers beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 45-28. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports
5. Making an elite New Year’s Day Bowl Game
Technically, the Vols did this last year with a Jan. 2 bowl game when they blew out the Iowa Hawkeyes 45-28, and the TaxSlayer Bowl is certainly a bowl game that would qualify as a New Year’s Day Bowl Game.
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But we are talking about an elite New Year’s Day Bowl Game. That qualifies as one of the New Year’s Six, which obviously includes the College Football Playoff and also means games on Dec. 31 that will count. If not one of those bowl games, then it means either the Outback Bowl or the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day.
One of those eight bowl games should be the goal for the Vols this year as they get set for the season because it means a lot of things. That means they were one of the Top Five SEC teams on the year and that they were in contention for an SEC Championship and potentially a College Football Playoff appearance.
All of those would be huge things for the football team this year as they try to make strides in returning to prominence. Reaching one of those eight bowl games would be the most prestigious bowl game they have reached since 2007 (the 2009 Peach Bowl did not have the prestige it has now).
So unless it’s a Dec. 31 game that is among the New Year’s Six, let’s make reaching one of the elite New Year’s Day Bowl Games a priority this year.
Or, in simpler terms, reaching either one of the New Year’s Six or the Citrus or Outback Bowl.
Next: #4: Winning Record Against Rivals