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Tennessee football: Ranking Vols 15 seasons after consecutive years of no bowl

By Caleb Calhoun

JACKSONVILLE, FL - JANUARY 02: Tennessee Volunteers players celebrate following the TaxSlayer Bowl against the Iowa Hawkeyes at EverBank Field on January 2, 2015 in Jacksonville, Florida. The Tennessee Volunteers defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 45-28. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FL - JANUARY 02: Tennessee Volunteers players celebrate following the TaxSlayer Bowl against the Iowa Hawkeyes at EverBank Field on January 2, 2015 in Jacksonville, Florida. The Tennessee Volunteers defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 45-28. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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5. 1960

Bowden Wyatt: 6-2-2 (3-2-2)

No. 19 Coaches Poll

Five years after Bowden Wyatt had his first rebuilding project for Tennessee football, he was trying to prove he still had it. Heading into 1960, the Vols had suffered a surprise losing season in 1958 and then a 5-4-1 season in 1959.

All that really kept Wyatt afloat was the fact that his Vols had upset the No. 1 ranked LSU Tigers the year before in the famous two-point conversion stop of eventual Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon. But that win took so much out of UT that they lost their final three games.

Entering this year, he needed his team to be better at handling success. Following up a 10-3 win over the Auburn Tigers on the road with a tie against the Mississippi State Bulldogs was not a way to do that, though. Still, after that tie, UT won four straight, including another SEC win against the No. 15 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, a program on the rise in Bear Bryant’s third season.

So the Vols were 5-0-1 and in the top 10 heading into November. That’s when lack of handling success kicked in again. They lost to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on the road. Then they lost to the No. 4 ranked and eventual national champion Ole Miss Rebels before tying the Kentucky Wildcats.

That turned 5-0-1 into 5-2-2. And given their team, the only loss that was acceptable was the Ole Miss one. These guys should have been 8-1. Anyway, they ended the season with a 35-0 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores but missed a third straight bowl game. Finishing in the top 20 in one poll puts this high on our list, but the team underachieved given what they could have done.

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