Should we be SEC East favorites?

Should we be SEC East favorites in 2015?

  • Total voters
    0
#78
#78
Nationdom said:
I really don't like being called a troll. It really grinds my gears and I'm sick of it.
Click to expand...

Don't you think that's a little much at this time? I'll agree and say we should have a great shot the next two years, but for the next 13-17? That's crazy talk at this point. We may have another coaching change and be in the midst of another down period that far out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#79
#79
Nationdom said:
I really don't like being called a troll. It really grinds my gears and I'm sick of it.
Click to expand...

Then stop the ridiculous posts saying stuff like "we should be the favorites for the next 13-17 years". Come on man. You'd have had people barking back at you if you'd posted that right after the 1998 season.

If you're sick of hearing it, it means you're hearing it a lot and crazy statements like that are why. I think you're a legitimate fan who loves the Vols like we all do, but statements like that make a lot of us scratch out heads and wonder.
 
Last edited:
#80
#80
Nationdom said:
I really don't like being called a troll. It really grinds my gears and I'm sick of it.
Click to expand...

Then...stop trolling. Or stop having views that are so ridiculous that people can't distinguish you from a troll.

To paraphrase Arthur C Clarke: "Any sufficiently advanced insanity is indistinguishable from trolling". We can't tell which it is, so we go with the most charitable option. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#81
#81
2 years ago USC was favored to win the east. Last year UGA was favored to win the east. Things don't always go as planned
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#84
#84
Should we be favored to win the East...NO, at least not yet.

With a Win over Oklahomer and after we drain the swamp and get the Win at floriDUHHH then we've gotten Wins against teams that matter.

Then the legit talk of a chance to Win the SEC East Championship and going to Atlanta should begin.

Win those 2 games and then Win over UGa and then we have valid reasons to be fired up and discuss anything.

#BrickbyBrick...VFL...GBO!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#87
#87
Goodness. This program hasn't won more than 7 games in something like 7 years. I'm not saying we can't win it, but we can't be the FAVORITE to win anything until we prove it on the field.

This place just feeds itself. We start with expectations to win 7-9 games, then somebody says "why not 10," and then the next thing you know we are favorites to win the SEC.

By next month, I expect to tune in here to see claims that anything less than 14-1 and the national title will be a disappointment.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#89
#89
SC and Missouri should be way down and fla will suck again. Only UGa should be able to beat UT in the east. The Vols will upset Ga and win the division!
 
#90
#90
chargervol said:
Well, you are annoying.
Click to expand...
So which is it? You are bothered or you aren't? Last time we locked horns you assured me that you weren't bothered... now you are.

Vegas and legit media (that excludes BR)wish to be correct. They don't just throw things out. And they are a lot better at it than you. If they say we shouldn't be favorites, they have done so with great consideration of the facts at hand and I agree with them.
Click to expand...
So 1) you have not cited a specific source and 2) you are still trying to argue a point different from the one in the OP.

You also have a habit of attempting to deflect and personalize things rather than just saying "Oh, I was wrong" or saying nothing at all.


What do you think is going to change with our team in practice with so many not even participating?
Did you say if we should or shouldn't or did you just yap, yap, yap again?
Click to expand...
So you post this full of angst while saying that you are not annoyed but are annoyed... and without having read to see what my opinion is?

What is going to change? Spring practice is only a part of the off-season development that goes on. While it stinks to have several guys not participating, it provides opportunities to build the "depth" that you and others complain UT doesn't have. This team will be more mature, more talented, and more developed than any in the past several seasons. At the same time, UGA replaces their QB and plays Bama/Aub, UF goes through a coaching change, Mizzou has big time talent losses, USCe is still struggling,.... so the door is wide open.

Edit: I noticed in your next response that you pointed out to someone that the numbers still have us slightly behind UGA. I assume these are DAJs numbers that we both believe to paint a fairly accurate picture?
Click to expand...
Yes.

If so, even though it is only a slight disadvantage and one we could overcome, it would be "overcoming" - meaning - no we shouldn't be favored.
Click to expand...
I also mentioned a study someone had a few seasons back that showed a returning QB was worth wins. UGA also plays Aub and Bama this year which will be penciled in by most as losses. They will have to run the East to win it. I am not sure UT should be "favored" but I would say they are one of two teams with the best shot of winning it.... and would lean that way right now just based on UGA's schedule and the unlikelihood that the other 5 have enough horsepower.
Of course you already know this, you are just much more interested in throwing insults than having an actual point.
Click to expand...
YOU did not READ the OP or if you did you decided to answer a different question... and you are someone to be complaining about someone else throwing "insults".
 
Last edited:
#91
#91
JonGrudensAgent said:
No.

Expect a .500 record again per our leader.

“We’ve had two very, very solid, very good recruiting classes back to back, but we’re still not there yet from a competitive depth standpoint. We’re still a couple recruiting classes away.”

Head coach doesn't think we are at a competitive level, why should the fans?
Click to expand...

The whole "lack-of-depth" narrative is total BS so Butch Jones can keep selling playing time to recruits. I don't necessarily fault Butch for pushing that lie, but the reality is that we have more talent and experience than every other team in the SEC East.

On paper, we're better than every team we'll play this year besides Alabama. Vegas will favor us in all of our non-Alabama games (it'll be close for Oklahoma and Georgia, but we'll still be favored since those are home games). Of course favorites don't always win, so we can allow for 1 to 3 non-Alabama losses, but that means we should still be looking at an overall regular season record of 10-2 to 8-4. Given how weak the SEC East is otherwise, that should be good enough to get to Atlanta.

Frankly, I'm shocked so many Vol fans are still so pessimistic. The pre-season publications won't come out until after Spring practices end, but I predict most will pick us to win the East.
 
#93
#93
EZE said:
Goodness. This program hasn't won more than 7 games in something like 7 years. I'm not saying we can't win it, but we can't be the FAVORITE to win anything until we prove it on the field.

This place just feeds itself. We start with expectations to win 7-9 games, then somebody says "why not 10," and then the next thing you know we are favorites to win the SEC.

By next month, I expect to tune in here to see claims that anything less than 14-1 and the national title will be a disappointment.
Click to expand...

You may be making an erroneous assumption.

You think "this place feeds itself." While I'm sure there's some of that going on, VNers getting hyped by other VNers, for me personally--and I suspect for many of the more thoughtful posters here--expectations are driven by what we learn about the team and program.

We're watching the spring practices, and before those the non-contact drills, and before those the statements by the coaches. Those are informing our expectations for the coming year.

And yes, things seem to be going exceedingly well for the program right now. Other than the Coleman Thomas incident (which will hopefully be resolved soon) and Blair's failure to emerge as a likely contributor on the OLine, all the news is VERY good. I don't recall ever seeing a spring that played out with so many positive storylines, and so few negative ones.

So, talk in January and February about "8-4, maybe 9-3" turned into talk in March and April about "9-3, perhaps even 10-2 and a trip to the SEC CG."

I think that's mostly based on what we're seeing on the practice field.

And it's not just us here at VN. From Sports Illustrated to ESPN to Bleacher Report, and everything in between, sports writers seem to be seeing the same thing as us, because their expectations keep racheting up little by little as well.

You just gotta acknowledge that there is a reason for it outide of the O&W pages of the VN forums.

Sikerth said:
I'm sorry. I love the hype we've been getting from the outside, but have you paid attention the past decade? :/
Click to expand...

The future is not the past. Not at this point in the life of our program. From this point on, every year is a potential championship year.
 
Last edited:
#96
#96
sjt18 said:
I'm not sure. I haven't found a good way to get at that. Someone else posted recently that UT returns the most starts in the East but I don't know for sure.

IMHO, two of the "big 3" in the East are back in place with UF sure to get back into it within a year or two. The losers in all this are Mizzou and USCe who have benefited from UF and UT slumping at the same time.

The reason I would differ with you on UGA is that they play both Auburn and Bama. I think Auburn is the team to beat in the West this year rather than Bama. Arkansas won't be a push over but I'd rather have them than Auburn. UGA probably has to run the East to win it... and they play at UT.


Both games were closer than the talent says they should have been. The Vols may not be on a completely level plain with UGA but its much closer than it was.


Someone in recent years tried to establish the worth of having a returning QB. IIRC, it was somewhat significant. That's another thing that hurts UGA.

I'm not saying you are wrong so much as pointing out that there are negatives to picking UGA too. The East is wide open and UT is positioned well.
Click to expand...

I agree. We have a more favorable conference schedule and get the leg-humpers at home.
 
#97
#97
Sikerth said:
I'm sorry. I love the hype we've been getting from the outside, but have you paid attention the past decade? :/
Click to expand...

What does any of that have to do with the specific circumstance this fall? Programs constantly rise and fall. I'd guess that every fan here would agree to that... until someone says that UT looks like a riser. Then somehow the norm is thrown out in favor of limiting the future based on past things so distant that there's no direct ties.
 
#98
#98
8inarow said:
You'll lose to Florida because you always do, lose to Bama and Georgia because they're better than you, and drop a game you shouldn't because your coaching staff isn't good.

8-4 at best.
Click to expand...

Little early to troll this hard... pace yourself.

I think UT has enough talent that they should break the current drought to either UF or UGA or both. With the creative ways UT has found to lose to bad UF teams though, it is hard to call it a win in spite of their issues.

Bama is still a probable loss but the possibility of UT sneaking away with one is better than any time since the streak started.

I don't know what UT has in Jones. Recruiting has been great. Development looks really good overall. I've been somewhat disappointed with some of the attrition and I don't think he's proven he can get it done on gameday against SEC caliber coaches.

I think a lot of questions can be answered this fall about Jones.
 
Last edited:
#100
#100
No, there should be no talk of winning the east until we see that the o line has made a big jump from last year.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top