The ESPN College GameDay crew did not even pick the game between the Tennessee Vols and Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday.
This his how far Tennessee football has fallen. The Vols’ rivalry game at Alabama did not even make the picks list for the ESPN College GameDay crew on Saturday morning.
As they did their rounds in Happy Valley for the game between the Michigan Wolverines and Penn State Nittany Lions, they blatantly left this game off the list.
College GameDay’s only mention of this game was to give the Vols absolutely no chance. Lee Corso said their only two chances to win are slim and none, and Kirk Herbstreit added that slim left town.
Despite Alabama’s 10-game winning streak in the series, the game at least made the list in the past. That’s not the case here.
With Alabama more than a five-touchdown favorite over the Vols, who can blame them? This shows just how low the morale behind the program is in Butch Jones’s fifth year as head coach.
Funny enough, the Vols could realistically match what they did the past two years. Finishing 9-4 is realistic even with a loss to Alabama. The back end of their schedule is easy enough.
But the way they lost to Florida changed everything. By that point, Butch Jones’s seat caught fire overnight. And it’s only gotten worse since then, starting with an ugly win over UMass. That followed with a blowout home loss against the Georgia Bulldogs and another loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Taking all those things into account, it’s easy to see why nobody wants to pick the Tennessee-Alabama game. Despite a quality win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the fact that they are two plays from 5-1, nobody is thinking about them. College GameDay just managed to emphasize that point.