Tennessee Vols on Par With the Best of College Football
Despite a 4-4 record on the year, the Tennessee Vols football team are among the top teams in college football. The Volunteers’ losses have proven that.
It is safe to say Tennessee has arrived.
After early season losses to the Oklahoma Sooners, Florida Gators, and Arkansas Razorbacks, nobody would have said that about a 2-3 team.
It is hard now to even say that about a 3-4 team.
But the way the season has played out, from how the Vols have played to how the teams they have played have played shows that.
Seven of Tennessee’s first eight games are against teams who are likely to make a bowl game this year. Three of their four losses are to Top 15 teams.
And they have not lost a game by more than one possession yet.
Consider Oklahoma for a second. Outside of an embarrassing loss to Texas, this team has dominated everybody it has faced. It’s right there with TCU and Baylor in contention for the Big 12 Championship. Losing to them in double overtime looks better by the week.
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The next week, blowing a 27-14 lead to the Florida Gators on the road hurt at the time like nobody could ever imagine. The Vols at that point were 2-2, should have been 4-0, lost their 11th straight to the Gators, and were already in trouble in September. But as we have found out each week, Florida is a Top 10-caliber team now.
And that game looks like it will have ended up deciding the SEC East.
So Tennessee lost in double overtime to a team that could win the Big 12 and by one on the road to a team good enough to win the SEC. The next week, a loss at home to Arkansas was really the low point of the season. But despite the Razorbacks’ two early losses, Bret Bielema’s team has clearly turned a corner since then, and Tennessee was the first victim of that.
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They were also caught in a trap game as well, coming off of a loss to Florida with Georgia looming the next week.
Playing the Bulldogs obviously got the Vols on the right track, as they came back from a 24-3 deficit to win 38-31.
And then came their fourth loss, a 19-14 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide on the road. Again, where is the shame in that? There is none.
Next: Week 9 Game Picks and Predictions in Review
A 52-21 victory over Kentucky on the road only solidifies how good this team truly is. They have more talent than Florida overall and are good enough to beat anybody on a neutral field. So while we had hoped that the Vols would show they have arrived with a big season in the win-loss column this year, it’s safe to say they have arrived.
Now they have to prove it with a strong close-out to the season.