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Tennessee football Top 10 Vols teams that didn’t win a championship

By Caleb Calhoun

GAINESVILLE, FL - DECEMBER 01: Scott Newsome #68 of the University of Tennessee Volunteers celebrates the victory over the University of Florida Gators after the SEC game at Florida Field in Gainesville, Florida on December 01, 2001. Tennessee defeated Florida 34-32. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FL - DECEMBER 01: Scott Newsome #68 of the University of Tennessee Volunteers celebrates the victory over the University of Florida Gators after the SEC game at Florida Field in Gainesville, Florida on December 01, 2001. Tennessee defeated Florida 34-32. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Andy Lyons/ALLSPORT
Photo by Andy Lyons/ALLSPORT /

3. 2001 Tennessee Volunteers: 11-2 (7-2 SEC)

Many of these seasons we have been talking about for Tennessee football revolve around what could have been. There is no greater example of that, in a painful way, than the 2001 Vols This team was simply loaded and blew a chance it never should have.

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    • The Vols opened the year in the Top 10 as they returned a ton of talent from a rebuilding 8-4 team. Led by sophomore Casey Clausen, they had a lot to be thrilled about. The only perceived weakness, the running game, was alleviated early as a concern, as Travis Stephens proved he could carry the load.

    On top of that, Tennessee had a future Hall of Fame tight end in Jason Witten, elite receivers in Donte Stallworth and Kelley Washington, an All-American kicker in Alex Walls and future NFL punter in Dustin Colquitt, and a loaded offensive line. But the big splash was on defense. Two future superstars in the NFL were playing side by side at defensive tackle, John Henderson and Albert Haynesworth. Together, they made up the best interior line in college football history.

    The Vols played the toughest schedule on the year as well. Their first six opponents would make bowl games, and the next two were one game away each from making one. Three of those games came against teams who would finish the year in the Top 15. None of those games, by the way, were against their toughest regular season opponent, the Florida Gators on the road. That game was rescheduled due to the tragic Sept. 11 attacks.

    Tennessee’s only loss in that opening stretch was a heartbreaker at home against the Georgia Bulldogs. Nonetheless, they fought back to make it to 9-1. And on Dec. 1, they were going to play their seventh team with a winning record and fourth Top 15 team. Florida was actually ranked No. 2 in the nation with a Heisman contender at quarterback.

    However, on the road, this Tennessee football team got its best win of this century by shocking the Gators 34-32. The win was enough to put them at No. 2, overcoming the Georgia loss and in control of their own destiny for a national title.

    That’s when the heartbreak came. Tennessee lost the very next week to the LSU Tigers in the SEC Championship game. LSU was a team they blew out early in the season, and this time they lost their quarterback and their running back. But a flat Vols team made too many mistakes.

    Related Story: Top 10 Vols who never won a championship

    The loss is why this team is on this list and not among the greatest teams in school history. They took their anger out on the Michigan Wolverines in the Citrus Bowl with a 45-17 win. But the pain of that loss still stings greater than the excitement of that win over Florida. This team finished 11-2 and ranked No. 4 in the nation. When you look at them on paper, they had seven wins against teams with winning records, five against Top 25 teams. So this was a great team. And it never should have been on this list.

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