IIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTT’SSSSSSSS MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
And it’s a playoff game week Monday for your Tennessee Volunteers. About as good of a Monday as it can get…with the exception of a playoff victory Monday.
So let’s grab a spoon, grab a seat, and dig into a piping hot bowl of Tennessee-Vols-related thoughts poured straight from my brain.
1) It’s going to be cold in Columbus, Ohio. In case, y’know, y’all hadn’t heard that. But for Josh Heupel, who’s a South Dakota native, that’s a summer day.
His words/quip, not mine. Heupel noted today that they’d practiced in a similar chill recently and the Vanderbilt game was 30 degrees, so it’s not really the incredibly unique situation that some have felt it is. Temperatures are expected to be around 17 degrees at kickoff, which will be the coldest game the Vols have played in decades.
But this team is built to grind through a cold, physical game, so we’ll see how it plays out on Saturday night.
2) Heupel also answered a question today about whether players hitting the portal will be involved with the team in the playoff.
The answer: nope. I mean, that’s kind of how he has to handle it. You can’t use a player who’s heading out the door and divesting himself of the interest in the program.
But, unfortunately, that’s the world we live in nowadays in college football. The transfer portal is here to stay. The problem is that it literally can’t be moved any later during the winter time frame because classes are always going to start at the same time at most places: very early January, when the playoff is still going on for some teams. And players need time to figure out where they’re going to go. It’s an unfixable situation.
Well, almost unfixable. Perhaps a window after the spring semester ends would nip that issue in the bud. It might also discourage some transfers, with incoming players having missed spring ball and being behind. But then again, probably not. Dollars carry more weight than sense regardless of the situation.
As such, get used to more situations like Tennessee is dealing with, with a handful of players moving on from an opportunity to win a championship in search of greener pastures.
3) What an unbelievable ending in Champaign, Illinois on Saturday.
I might be called for a foul from afar just for writing about this, but that was a game that a sneeze would have drawn a whistle. Both teams were in the double bonus with minutes left to play in the first half. Unfortunately, the whistles were not even in the second half, with Tennessee being whistled 10 times with Illinois at 4, if I remember correctly.
Still, it really hit me how tough minded this Tenenssee team is. That was a tough environment, and Illinois was big and physical early on and appeared to have been setting the tone. It felt like a game the Vols lose, even in more recent years.
But this team, man. They’re physical and they’re tough minded. That was a very impressive win, and it showed the Vols are pretty darned good at all five spots and particularly deep in the backcourt with Jordan Gainey’s 23-point masterclass.
Have to love where this team is headed this season.
Go Vols!