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Ranking Tennessee Vols sports worst affected by coronavirus ending season

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - FEBRUARY 2: Cheerleaders of the Tennessee Volunteers pregame against the Kentucky Wildcats in a game at Thompson-Boling Arena on February 2, 2016 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Patrick Murphy-Racey/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - FEBRUARY 2: Cheerleaders of the Tennessee Volunteers pregame against the Kentucky Wildcats in a game at Thompson-Boling Arena on February 2, 2016 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Patrick Murphy-Racey/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images
Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images /

12. Men’s Outdoor Track and Field

This was one of the sports that had not even begun yet. The track and field/cross country program merges six different sports: men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s indoor track and field, women’s indoor track and field, men’s outdoor track and field and women’s outdoor track and field. Both cross country sports take place during the fall.

With both indoor track and field programs about to begin NCAA championships, outdoor track and field programs were waiting in the wings. We have no idea how things would have worked out for either program, so this is all projection based on what happened last year. And what happened last year wasn’t the best for the Tennessee Vols program on these fronts. It looks worse for the men.

That side of the program finished No. 61 in the final U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association rankings. That’s actually higher than where the women finished, which we’ll be getting to on our next slide. However, the problem with the men is the fact that they had much less standout talent returning to the program this year, and it’s what keeps them at No. 12.

This program only had four All-Americans win five honors last year, and three of those honors were won by seniors. So they actually have only two people who earned honors last year returning. Those were their only four players to compete at NCAA National Championships last year anyway, and that’s what makes the outlook so bad.

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