2016 season preview: No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers

#1
YankeeVol

YankeeVol

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#1
Phil Steele: Sharp Edge
Butch Jones has talked about the youth of his Vols team for three years now, but he can't play that card this year -- Tennessee is the most experienced Power 5 team in the country. It has 17 starters back, including QB Joshua Dobbs, the elite RB duo of Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara (combined 1,986 yards) and a D that has three potential first-round picks in DE Derek Barnett, LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin and CB Cameron Sutton. The Vols are front-runners to win the SEC East and will be double-digit favorites in eight games. The key will be a four-game stretch (Weeks 4-7) in which they see Florida (11 straight losses to the Gators), travel to Georgia and Texas A&M, and host Alabama.

Brad Edwards': Playoff Forecast
IN IF...
It can buck the trends. In addition to those 11 straight losses to Florida, UT has dropped nine in a row to Bama. And the East champ hasn't won the SEC since '08. Break each streak and Tennessee will be in the playoff.

OUT IF...
It can't close. All four of UT's losses last year were by seven or fewer points, and three were blown leads in the final five minutes.

FPI
Tennessee's chances to win each game
09.01 vs. Appalachian State: 95.1%
09.10 vs. Virginia Tech (Bristol Motor Speedway): 87.7%
09.17 vs. Ohio: 98.5%
09.24 vs. Florida: 80.2%
10.01 @ Georgia: 55.8%
10.08 @ Texas A&M: 59.3%
10.15 vs. Alabama: 58.9%
10.29 @ South Carolina: 88.7%
11.05 vs. Tennessee Tech: 99.8%
11.12 vs. Kentucky: 93.8%
11.19 vs. Missouri: 92.5%
11.26 @ Vanderbilt: 85.9%

College Football Nation:
The overwhelming favorite to win the SEC East, Tennessee returns the division's most talented and experienced team, which will propel the Vols to a 10-2 season with a shot of possibly sneaking into the College Football Playoff. -- Edward Aschoff

Butch Jones has been building to this point with star-studded recruiting classes. Now it's time to deliver. If the Volunteers navigate a front-loaded schedule effectively, they should be able to cruise to at 10-2 record and their first SEC East title since 2007. -- David Ching

The Vols have to win the SEC East this year, right? If not now, when? All that experience, the best quarterback in the division, now is the time for Tennessee at 10-2. -- Sam Khan Jr.

The talent is there. The schedule sets up nicely. But even with a 10-2 finish, it's hard to pick the Vols to win the East until they prove they can beat Florida. -- Greg Ostendorf

Sorry, Tennessee, it's still not your year. While the Vols are the most talented team in the East, inexperience will cost them one game too many, finishing 9-3 and just short of the division title. -- Alex Scarborough
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2016 season preview: No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers
 

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#2
#2
Scarborough is the only idiot. "...inexperience will cost them one game too many."

We're the most experienced Power 5 team IN THE COUNTRY
 
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#4
#4
well, it is our best chance to win it all since...:thud:...and we haven't beaten the Gators since...:thud:...so we'll just play the damn games and we'll see on the field who's right and wrong...talking heads make my head hurt...:spank:...:bash:

GO VOLS!
 
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#5
#5
Better chance of beating Bama than UGA? I know the it's home and away, respectively, but really? :thud:
 
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#6
#6
With those odds about an 8% chance to go undefeated in regular season. Also, about a 15% chance to win all four of the gauntlet of UF, UGA, TAMU, & BAMA.
 
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#9
#9
October is a coin flip outside of South Carolina.
I think Georgia should be considerably higher with the questions at qb. aTm is a huge concern for me hopefully we've fixed the flaws in coverage. I don't know how you list the defending champs as underdogs to anyone. That D is going to be stout and Butch and co will need to get creative to have any running game.
 
#11
#11
Alex Scarborough is pretty sharp. If he's wrong and UT rolls, his prediction will be remembered by a few UT fans. If any of a number of possible factors combine to cause UT to go 9-3 and finish 2nd in the East, he'll shout to the heavens, appear on shows and write articles. He'll look like a genius as the dissenter.

He's smart, but I hate him.
 
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#12
#12
DuckinVol said:
Alex Scarborough is pretty sharp. If he's wrong and UT rolls, his prediction will be remembered by a few UT fans. If any of a number of possible factors combine to cause UT to go 9-3 and finish 2nd in the East, he'll shout to the heavens, appear on shows and write articles. He'll look like a genius as the dissenter.

He's smart, but I hate him.
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There's nothing "sharp" or "smart" about saying the most experienced power 5 team in the country is going to lose games due to inexperience.

He could be right about what happens.... but somehow I think he mailed in his comments from last year.
 
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#13
#13
Very interesting that the preseason FPI shows UT favored in every game.

I don't think the significance of the UF game can be overstated. It is the first in the 4 game stretch that will determine UT's season. A solid, HEALTHY win would provide the momentum to win 3 or even all 4.
 
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#15
#15
DuckinVol said:
Alex Scarborough is pretty sharp. If he's wrong and UT rolls, his prediction will be remembered by a few UT fans. If any of a number of possible factors combine to cause UT to go 9-3 and finish 2nd in the East, he'll shout to the heavens, appear on shows and write articles. He'll look like a genius as the dissenter.

He's smart, but I hate him.
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Well, Duck...

(1) I don't think he's that sharp. Been reading him for a while, too. Steele, Low, Haney, even Maisel...all better than Scarborough at looking into the future.

(2) If we go 9-3, no one outside VolNation will remember what anyone predicted about us...because all the attention will be on the teams in the playoffs. That's just how it works. If, on the other hand, we go 11-1 or even 12-0, and are in the playoffs, plenty of folks will be called upon to eat crow if they were badly off pre-season. Scarborough just put himself toward the front of that queue. :)
 
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#16
#16
titansvolsfaninga said:
I am being serious. Bama is the only iffy game I see. Florida actually does suck. UGA lost a lot on defense and have a freshman QB, a new and unproven coaching staff. Be scared if you want....
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Ha I'm not scared, my money is where my mouth is - got 200 on us over 9.5 games and 200 on us taking home the natty.
 
#17
#17
VFL-82-JP said:
Well, Duck...

(1) I don't think he's that sharp. Been reading him for a while, too. Steele, Low, Haney, even Maisel...all better than Scarborough at looking into the future.

(2) If we go 9-3, no one outside VolNation will remember what anyone predicted about us...because all the attention will be on the teams in the playoffs. That's just how it works. If, on the other hand, we go 11-1 or even 12-0, and are in the playoffs, plenty of folks will be called upon to eat crow if they were badly off pre-season. Scarborough just put himself toward the front of that queue. :)
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Didn't say I thought he was correct, and I doubt he thought so either. I can see it now (should he actually be correct) as the media starts spinning up to next season.

PF: Alex, most of us were pretty high on UT last season, but you had them pegged. What was it you saw?
AS(S): Well Paul, UT just blahblahblahblah.

Rinse and repeat on every show imaginable. Either way he set himself up well for the type of attention required to make a living in sports "journalism" these days.
 
#18
#18
IMO Scarbrough's comment wouldn't be so bad if the excuse he used wasn't "inexperience." Inexperience? Wtf?! Both UF and UGA are breaking in new QB's and new starters on most of their defenses. Meanwhile, UT's best players are all juniors and seniors! If experience is the X factor, we'll stroll into ATL. But if UT does fall short at 9-3 and finish a disappointing 2nd/3rd in the East, inexperience will play no part in it. It will simply be failure to execute from players and coaches, aka choking.
 
#20
#20
Dudleys87 said:
October is a coin flip outside of South Carolina.
I think Georgia should be considerably higher with the questions at qb. aTm is a huge concern for me hopefully we've fixed the flaws in coverage. I don't know how you list the defending champs as underdogs to anyone. That D is going to be stout and Butch and co will need to get creative to have any running game.
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Meh, you know Kirby Smart is the new sportswriters' darling coming into this season. Every year they find at least one new head coach to fawn over during the preseason and this year happens to be his.
 
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