Tennessee football: Vols 10 worst upset losses in school history

10. 2008: Wyoming beats Tennessee 13-7

It was the culmination of a tragic and depressing year for Tennessee football. Things were so bad that upset itself was secondary news. But it was news nonetheless, and everything surrounding it is what made this such a bad upset.

Earlier in the week, Phillip Fulmer had been fired. An era was coming to an end, and after his emotional press conference where he fought back tears, everybody on Rocky Top prepared for a three-week funeral. Even fans who wanted him gone hated that it had to come to this.

At the time, Tennessee was 3-6 and suffering its worst offensive output in decades. A change in offensive coordinator to Dave Clawson was not working out, and Jonathan Crompton and Nick Stephens both struggled significantly.

But the Vols had Wyoming, Vanderbilt and Kentucky as their final three games, an easy road to get to 6-6 and send Fulmer off in a bowl game. As it stood, things wouldn’t work out that way.

Tennessee football’s horrific offense hit a new low on this afternoon against a terrible Wyoming Cowboys team. They got nothing going, and the distraction of Fulmer’s firing was too much. A 13-7 loss ended any chance of them sending Fulmer off with postseason play.

As if the loss wasn’t bad enough combined with Fulmer’s firing, it was also homecoming that weekend. All these distractions make this loss less inexplicable than others on this list, and Wyoming finished with only one less win than the Vols on the year, which is why this upset is at No. 10. But it was still a bad upset, and it was the culmination of a very depressing period.