Phil Steele has us in top 30... (ranked #27)

[TNGrad2012]

Originally Posted by TNDRIVER

I can only rank 3 teams as definitely better, teams 4 through 9 ( which I would place us in) put them in a bag shake it up and that guess would be about as right as any, but I'd place Miss St, Ole Miss, Vandy, and Ky at the bottom.

I'm confident that we're going to be better than Mississippi State as well, TNDRIVER. Last year, their defense got torched for 350 yards per game and averaged giving up 19 points per contest. Their offense isn't anything to be scared of either, as it average scoring only about 25 points per game.

As for Missouri, they averaged scoring about 32 points per game last year, but also gave up 23. That game will be an absolute track meet because it's not known what our defense will be like under this new hybrid 3-4/4-3 scheme of Sal's.

We know Auburn is going to suck. There is no telling what Arkansas is going to be like now without Petrino calling the shots. And I have no confidence in Florida being any good next just because Muschamp's head is liable to implode or cave in at any given moment.

Vandy sucks; Kentucky sucks. So that leaves us with Georgia, who had a ****ty defense last year, and South Carolina, who also had a ****ty defense. I like our chances at winning the SEC East this year and returning to Atlanta to play either Alabama or LSU.

[ImportedVoL]

Originally Posted by TNGrad2012

Don't hate me because I happen to like Ohio State! Whenever the two schools do meet again, I will be pulling for Tennessee. My blood very much runs orange, and I have never even been to an OSU football game, though I may get to go to one this season if my friend and his wife have an extra ticket or two.

Dude you can have a second favorite team.. as long as if they ever play you still want to see UT grind them into mush.. you can like anyone you want expect Bama and Florida.

[WA_Vol]

not sure we make his top 30. one publication i was looking at had UT second to last in the east only ahead of kentucky

[TNGrad2012]

Originally Posted by ImportedVoL

Dude you can have a second favorite team.. as long as if they ever play you still want to see UT grind them into mush.. you can like anyone you want expect Bama and Florida.

Deal! I can't stand Bama and Florida. I can't tell you how many temper tantrums I used to throw when I was a kid when Alabama or Florida would whip us. The Alabama games I remember losing or finished in a tie with them that I thought we should have won were the 1990 (Bama won, 9-7, on a late field goal, but we still won the SEC that year as well as the Sugar Bowl), 1993 (Bama kicked a late field goal to tie the game and that's how the game ended - in a 17-17 tie), 1994 (FVCK JAY BARKER AND HIS TOUCHDOWN PASS!!! Bama 17, Tennessee 13), and 2005 (I think Bama only won by a score of 9-3 or something like that. We had the ball inside their five yard line and I think Arian Foster fumbled away the ball to Bama and that's how the game ended.) Likewise, Florida pisses me off. They cheated to win the 1991 game 31-19 because Ron Zook gave Spurrier copies of our playbook. The 1993 game was awful - we would have won the SEC East that year had we won that game. I will never forget the 31-0 shutout Florida pitched against us in '94. In '95, we led 31-17 at halftime AND LOST 62-37 - and that was the only loss we had all season. In '96, we lost 34-28 because we gave up 31 first half points to the Gaytors. Then there's the 1999 game that had a touchdown called back that would have made the difference (I think the final score was 28-23 Florida), the 2000 game where we could get the damn ball into the end zone and lost 24-20. Finally, the 2006 might have pissed me off more than any of them because there was at least two times that I know of that we got the ball to the Florida 1 yard line AND HAD TO SETTLE FOR A FIELD GOAL. Final score of that game Florida 21-20.

Thank God I'm a Yankees fan, because I never have to worry about looking up to a rival as being our superior for very long before my team trumps them and wins the World Series. That makes me wonder why I like the Bears, Blackhawks, and Bulls. lol

[ibvolman]

Originally Posted by Kurtastrophe

I rank the Orlando Sentinel at about the same level as the Bleacher Report.

Hmmm...suprised you would rank them that high, even though that is pretty low.

[esarmstrong]

Folks, get ready for a lackluster season. We will be hovering around .500 at the season's end. Do not be surprised to see us lose the opener, too. Reality bites sometimes.

[cbbowlingmd]

Originally Posted by esarmstrong

Folks, get ready for a lackluster season. We will be hovering around .500 at the season's end. Do not be surprised to see us lose the opener, too. Reality bites sometimes.

If we're at .500 at season end, what 6 do you see us losing?

[norrislakevol]

Teams that will be worse than us this year: Vandy, KY, Ole Miss, Miss State, Florida, Auburn, and Arkansas. Florida will be terrible on offense and have a vunerable secondary, Arkansas is in shambles, Auburn will be nothing special, and Miss State doesn't have the talent level we have....the rest just speak for themselves. I think we are a 9 win team beacause of the passing game alone.

[Ashevillevol]

Originally Posted by ACvol3

U don't think they r bias in any way do u?

lived there for 20 years and the sports dept is definitely a bagload of gator homers. They would say anything to paint us in a negative light.

[orangeluvr]

I firmly believe the Vols will return to the conference elite , this season will be the barometer . Hopefully what looks good on paper will translate to the playing field .

[rockytop9808]

Originally Posted by cbbowlingmd

If we're at .500 at season end, what 6 do you see us losing?

All I can say is that we lost to Kentucky last year.

[howboutmyvols]

I enjoy all the discussions about how good we should be and how we will should contend for the east. But no one outside Tennessee fans are going to give this team, Tennessee or Dooley any respect until they win some ballgames they are not supposed to win. Until that occurs, outsiders are going to continue to view us as the perennial week link in the SEC.

[ImportedVoL]

Originally Posted by esarmstrong

Folks, get ready for a lackluster season. We will be hovering around .500 at the season's end. Do not be surprised to see us lose the opener, too. Reality bites sometimes.

I Don't want none of what you drinkin

[VeryBest]

Originally Posted by howboutmyvols

I enjoy all the discussions about how good we should be and how we will should contend for the east. But no one outside Tennessee fans are going to give this team, Tennessee or Dooley any respect until they win some ballgames they are not supposed to win. Until that occurs, outsiders are going to continue to view us as the perennial week link in the SEC.

As they should.

[howboutmyvols]

I guess I should qualify as the NEW perennial week link bc historically the stats would say otherwise.