It took awhile. Not so long ago he had a ho hum attitude about this Tennessee football team, but Sallee's finally turned the corner in joining in on the Big Orange train. Rather than just hearing the hype, he's researched the pile of reasons for all the optimism about this program. What's curious about those doubting the Vols this year is the group who keep thinking an SEC championship and run at the NC is so certainly at least a year away. History tells us that a lot of young teams have won the NC, and let's not kid ourselves in thinking this bunch isn't sickly loaded with talent and lots and lots of swagger. Butch knows that his coy comments about youth and inexperience can be seen as chump bait for those who grasp how deceptively deep the Vols can be if (HUGE if) the injury bug doesn't bite in the wrong places or at the wrong times. I think, with the debacle in Norman still on their minds, the chip on the guys' shoulders will be too much for the Sooners, along with a workable OL and too much defensive pressure. Gator tears will comprise some of that dank water the Vols will drain out of the swamp. That streak is over. Arky is too run-reliant for such a relentless group of block busting hard tacklers they'll face in a rabid Neyland. The dawgs, minus a veteran qb and reliant on a running back who, although he's big and fast, won't pour it on in the 4th quarter against an always fresh DL. They'll most likely limp out of K-town, beaten up after a hard fought loss. UGA will cave from the same problem Arky will have had in the Vols' house. Bama will be brutal and relentless for all four quarters...as always, but not unbeatable unless they can get lucky again with a new qb and if they can cover deep better than last year, and there's no one like those Coopers who haunted our DBs in '14. It should be a very interesting third Saturday in October. The rest of the way only Mizzou has a legitimate shot at derailing the Vols' rocket ride to Atlanta. Aside from the injury bug "if", the improvement-of-the-OL "if" and the will the WRs-be-all-they-can-be "if" comprise if or if not Barrett Sallee's prediction is correct. Face it. There's an abundance of possibilities with team 119 and we just don't know what'll transpire in the years to come. Grab the ring while it's still within reach. Can you see it?