IIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTT’SSSSSSS MONDAY!!!!! And you wonderful orange-clad faithful know what that means. Let’s sit down at the table, carve up the orange-and-white bird, and dig into some wholesome Tennessee Vols-related goodness cooked up straight from my brain.
1) Another week at the top for the Tennessee Base Vols. UT kept its #1 ranking across all major polls after taking two of three over Vanderbilt in Nashville over the weekend. The streak of nine straight wins over the ‘Dores ended in Sunday’s 3-0 loss, but hey, you can’t win em all.
2) You can, however, win (almost) all of your series, and Tennessee just keeps on doing that. The Vols claimed their ninth straight SEC series with Saturday’s win over Vandy. Given just how INSANELY good the SEC has been this year – there are five teams with legit shots at receiving national seeds – that’s just a stupidly-good accomplishment.
3) However, there’s still work to be done even with that all being said. As awesome as the Vols have been this year, Kentucky is still one game up in the SEC East. The Cats host Vanderbilt this weekend, while Tennessee hosts South Carolina. Go Vandy (pukes). Since the Vols defeated Kentucky in two out of three matchups this year, they hold the tiebreaker. As such, Tennessee needs to be just one game better in its series than Kentucky is with its series in order to finish first in the SEC East.
4) Arkansas is also in the race with Kentucky and Tennessee for the overall SEC mark. The Hogs are at Texas A&M this weekend. The Aggies are a consensus top 10 team in the polls, so that could end up being a true challenge for the Razorbacks.
5) Dalton Knecht has been projected by multiple outlets lately as a top 10 pick. The Athletic called for him to go at #7 to Portland and ESPN tabbed him to go to San Antonio at #8. I’d be very curious to see how he and Victor Wimbeyana could do together. The NBA Draft will take place June 26-27.
6) According to Pats executive VP of player personnel Eliot Wolf, New England took Joe Milton because he had “too much talent” to pass over. I mean, I feel like so many of these NFL execs and scouts see what they want to see with some players, and Milton is no exception. They see a horse that’s a thoroughbred. One that can run way faster and way stronger than any other horse on the planet. They think they can train him, mold him. Unfortunately, no matter what you do, he’s still going to run over the racetrack barricade and out of the stadium at any given moment. That’s unfortunately who Milton is as a pro prospect. All of the physical talent in the world – perhaps as much as any QB ever as far as pure physical skills – but lacks the touch and poise to ever be a successful QB in the league.
May I please be proven completely wrong, Joe.
Go Vols!