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Tennessee football: Five seasons Vols made bowl despite losing record entering Halloween

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 31: Teammates Darren Myles Jr. #3 and Nyshier Oliver #12 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrate with teammates against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Neyland Stadium on October 31, 2009 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 31: Teammates Darren Myles Jr. #3 and Nyshier Oliver #12 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrate with teammates against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Neyland Stadium on October 31, 2009 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images /

Happy Halloween! Tennessee football enters the holiday with a losing record. Here are five seasons like that in which the Volunteers made a bowl game.

Ever since this decade arrived, Halloween was a scarier time for Tennessee football than most other programs. One look at the Vols’ record would show that by the time the holiday arrived, the season was already basically a loss.

In fact, for four straight seasons from 2010 to 2013, the holiday came with UT in the midst of a four-game losing streak. That happened a fifth time in 2017. And only one time have they entered the holiday with a winning record.

This is all due to the fall of Tennessee football, obviously, but it’s also related to the fact that the Vols play the most brutal portion of their schedule in October. It’s well-documented that November has always been an easier road for them than other programs.

So for Rocky Top, the school that thrives off of Halloween colors, the arrival of the ghosts and demons on the last day of October coming before All Saints Day could be somewhat symbolic, as the Saints guide UT through a very happy November. Well, they need them again with a 3-5 record and 2-3 SEC record as the holiday arrives.

Has Rocky Top ever been able to fully rebound from such issues when they were in this situation on Halloween? Well, actually, they have. There are indeed a few seasons, similar to this one, in which they had a losing record when the holiday arrived and finished strong.

How strong are we talking about? We’re talking about making a bowl game. There is historical precedent for UT to rebound once Halloween arrives, and we’re going to look at some of the times they did that in this post.

Let’s take a look at the five seasons Tennessee football indeed reached the postseason despite a losing record entering Halloween. For a Vols team to qualify for this list, they had to be under .500 when the sun came up on Oct. 31, and they had to reach a bowl game when the season ended.

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