The same people who argue we are still the equivalent of Florida, Georgia, and Bama in football will mock younger fans for their desire to be better in basketball. While in the lifetime of current recruits and younger fans, TN basketball is a much better program than TN football.
In football, since 2010, we are 66-69. 3-30 against Florida, Georgia, and Bama, who some claim are our rivals.
In basketball, the last 3 coaches (excluding Tyndall's 1-year stint) have all made at least one Sweet 16. Pearl made 2 Sweet Sixteens and an Elite Eight. Cuonzo and Rick both have a Sweet 16 appearance.
Our football coaches over that same time-span? Late career Fulmer, Kiffin, Dooley, Butch, Pruitt, and Heupel, who have a combined 4 seasons (2 by Fulmer and 2 by Butch) with 8 or more regular-season wins over that 15-year time-span.
Is our basketball job elite? No. But like Rob Lewis said in a recent podcast, this job will be highly sought after when it comes open. Our football job was not. The university has shown it will support basketball and the last 3 coaches (excluding Tyndall) have shown you can win here. Basketball recruits have also seen the basketball program win, be competitive in the tournament, develop kids, and be #1 in the country. Football recruits have seen us be the laughing stock of college football while wasting away top recruiting classes.
I like Rick, but he isn't winning you a championship. He isn't worth top 5 money. He isn't the only one that can win at this job. Yet some believe we should worship him for underachieving while some also hold this crazy opinion that we are still an elite football program. We are not elite at anything right now. But we are much closer to being elite in basketball than football.
I have few expectations for the football program and have had that view for years. We are a fading football program dying a slow death. But basketball is a rising program that I and many younger fans have higher expectations for.