IIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTT’SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And you wonderful Tennessee folks know what that means. It’s time to hike up our pant legs, hop into the wooden tub, and squash those Tennessee Vol-related grapes of thought dumped straight out of my noggin.
1) The Vols have the chance to potentially put an end to an era in Columbus.
The Ryan Day era, to be specific. Or at least that’s what many fans and some in the media think about the situation. Paul Finebaum went on ESPN’s Get Up this morning and said an Ohio State loss to Tennessee would likely be the nail in the coffin for Day’s time with the Buckeyes.
I’ve got to say….I find that surprising. Keep in mind Day was a missed field goal away from beating Georgia in the CFP semifinals two years ago. Win that, and the Buckeyes are likely national champions. Then the narrative is verrrrrrrrrrrry different about him now.
But he can’t beat Michigan, so that’s driven the narrative that he can’t take the Buckeyes to the next level. And a second consecutive home loss could be the end. That would be quite the lasting effect Heupel and his Vols could have on the college football landscape.
2) I’m so, so, so, SO tired of hearing about how unfair it was about how Alabama was left out – AND that SEC fans should be equally worried and make their future non-conference schedules as weak as possible to appease the committee’s alleged obsession with losses.
My take on this: pure hogwash. I’ll explain with how my mindset was during the Vanderbilt game.
As we all know, Vandy jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the opening kickoff. A Dylan Sampson fumble, and 27 yards later, it was 14-0 Dores before some fans perhaps even get settled into their seats.
I was saying to myself, “this is typical. At this rate, they’re going to lose to Vanderbilt, and they’re going to be out of the playoff. And it’s all their own fault.”
AND. IT’S. ALL. THEIR. OWN. FAULT.
I had no delusions of UT still getting in with a loss. My mind NEVER went to, “well heck, I guess they should find ways to lose less because the committee cares too much about losses. Time to cancel those future P4 non-conference games!”
NO. It went to, “holy crap, they are going to blow this against a team they are more talented than and should beat, but someone who appears to want it more right now.”
THAT’S where the blame should lie, Alabama, Greg Byrne, SEC fans, and whoever else is pounding the table for some kind of misguided change. It’s THAT simple. Beat 6-6 Oklahoma and Vandy and you’re in. Heck, beat JUST ONE of them, and you’d be in! That’s not a hard ask! It’s a REALLY easy one! You’re Bama! Those games you’re supposed to win 19 times out of 20, if not more!
And let’s not forget that none of that had to do with Bama losing a non-conference game. They had Western Kentucky, USF, Mercer, and a 5-7 Wisconsin team. It’s hard to get much softer than that.
And if it means less marquee inter-conference games, well, then I guess that’s the way it’s going to have to be. I don’t want to give teams with 3+ losses a reprieve simply because they played a tough slate. Losing football games still has to matter.
MAN, I just couldn’t believe my eyes and ears at the total lack of accountability among those around Alabama and the SEC regarding the total whiff on the nature of the situation. The bottom line is take care of business in games that you should. Alabama absolutely didn’t.
3) Anywho, the BasketVols reached the summit again in the college basketball polls, checking in at #1 in both.
That’s always a really cool thing to see. They get reeling Miami Tuesday night in NYC, who’s coming in on a 6-game losing streak that should stretch to 7. I’m looking forward to seeing them take on Illinois on Saturday at 5:30 in Champaign. That should be fun, and it’s a shot at getting another strong non-conference win for the resume. A win would also set UT up to potentially enter conference play undefeated and still #1. We’ll see soon enough if they can make that happen.
Go Vols!