Could the Memphis Tigers again be better than the Tennessee football Volunteers?
There’s a rumor that in 1996, when Tennessee football went 10-2 and finished in the top 10, Florida Gators head coach Steve Spurrier trolled the Vols by them failing to accomplish any of their goals. UT started that year ranked No. 2 and lost to Florida and the Memphis Tigers, failing to win the national, SEC, SEC East or even state championship, Spurrier allegedly joked.
The Vols had Peyton Manning that year and were in the midst of their most successful run of the modern era under Phillip Fulmer, while Memphis was in a long stretch of mediocrity and outright apathy geared towards its football program. Fast-forward to nearly 25 years later, though, and Rocky Top is having to prove its better than its Group of Five foe.
Barrett Sallee and Ben Kercheval of CBS Sports listed Memphis, not Tennessee football, as the best team in the state of Tennessee entering 2020. This comes after the Tigers went 12-2 last year and finished ranked No. 17 in both polls while the Vols went 8-5 and finished unranked. Here is Sallee’s explanation for this decision.
"Tennessee won six straight games to close the season and then watched Memphis play in the Cotton Bowl as the Group of Five’s best team. Those Tigers haven’t finished with fewer than eight wins since 2013. I have no doubt that Jeremy Pruitt’s Volunteers are on the rise, but until they become even an ancillary part of the national conversation, Tennessee is a Tiger state."
Taking that into account, Sallee does have a point, although UT obviously plays a much more brutal schedule each year. However, last year, they went 8-5 rather than 10-3 because they lost to the Georgia State Panthers and BYU Cougars, two teams Memphis likely would have beaten.
Add in the fact that Rocky Top did not beat any ranked teams down the stretch of last season, and it’s clear that Sallee and Kercheval are waiting for the Vols to prove they are actually the best team in the state. Memphis getting it over both Power Five programs, including the Vanderbilt Commodores, is a testament to that program.
Dating back to the hire of Justin Fuente, the Tigers’ athletic department has been clicking on all cylinders, even if they make mistakes at times, while UT’s administration was disaster after disaster until Fulmer took over. That lack of consistency and clear direction is showing.
Entering his third year as Tennessee football’s head coach, though, Jeremy Pruitt and the Vols have no excuses with this one. Memphis just had to replace Mike Norvell, so there should be some growing pains. Stability should work in Rocky Top’s favor.