Athlon Magazine picks Tennessee Number two in the East

#51
#51
Hard to believe but I always look at our opponent's schedule the weeks before they play us and our schedule. Should be interesting seeing we play Arkansas the week after their Texas A*M game and Texas Tech. Two tough teams. We play Georgia The week after they play Alabama plus they will have played USCe and Vanderbilt in the weeks prior to that.

The wear and tear of the SEC.

Our schedule is also tough and Depth plus Injuries will be a factor as it is for all SEC teams, However, a win vs Ok and Arkansas at home followed by a Road win at FL would put us in great position for Georgia
 
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#52
#52
dduncan4163 said:
8-4 and finally beating Florida is my expectations for the season. Anything more than that is just gravy. I still think that 2016 will be the year we take home a SEC crown.
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Beating Florida will go a long way in bringing a sense of security into our program. It's unreal the consecutive amount of losses we have suffered to them. Even though 80 percent of the time they had the more talented team...

8-4 i would be okay with, but we're talented enough to beat any team on our schedule.

I think we win 10 with losses to
Bama and UGA.
 
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#53
#53
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
why on earth woulyou expect us to win the SEC in 2016 if the best we'll be in 2015 is 8-4 with a win over Florida? IMO the only way you can put us as SEC champion in 2016 is if we go 9-3 or better in 2015.

8-4 is standing pat. 9-3 means we're moving toward being a contender. We need to start beating teams we're not supposed to beat. Losing to Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Arkansas or Missouri means we're still not anything close to championship material in 2016.
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I didn't think a team's 2015 record would be counted in the 2016 standings. Did I miss a rule change or something?
 
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#54
#54
With two Top 5ish recruiting classes and talent all over the field, 9-3 is a reasonable expectation. Accepting and expecting are two entirely different things. While people might accept 8-4, why lower expectations unnecessarily?
 
#55
#55
LittleVol said:
Beating Florida will go a long way in bringing a sense of security into our program. It's unreal the consecutive amount of losses we have suffered to them. Even though 80 percent of the time they had the more talented team...

8-4 i would be okay with, but we're talented enough to beat any team on our schedule.

I think we win 10 with losses to
Bama and UGA.
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I'm thinking 11-1 more and more as I review the schedule and I don't think we lose to either bama or uga. They are both talented but there talent is young and hasn't played a lot. New QB's as well. I think we lose to Arky because totally different style of ground and pound. I'm really liking the rest of the schedule and who each has returning vs ours. This is a good year to catch a lot of teams that are in the rebuilding process. We are coming to the end of rebuilding in year 3. Quality Depth 2 deep at every position now and 3 deep in several. Been a while since the roster looked this good!

JMHO

:loco:

Tennesseeduke
 
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#62
#62
Sudden Impact said:
Hard to believe but I always look at our opponent's schedule the weeks before they play us and our schedule. Should be interesting seeing we play Arkansas after Texas A*M game and Texas Tech and we play Georgia after playing Alabama the previous week plus they will have played USCe prior to that.

The wear and tear of the SEC.
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Arkansas will be undefeated and borderline top 10 by the time they play us. That will be a good one.
 
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#63
#63
Online will be better
Dobbs will lead a productive offense
Secondary will be good
Linebackers will be good, someone will step up at Mike
Ends will be dynamic

A) Williams and obrien do what many DTs do as upperclassmen and develop into solid forces that are worthy of draft/free agent consideration. Mckenzie and Tuttle are instantly dynamic and along with vickers make for a talented 5 deep. Defense is suddenly dominant, top 2 in the conference. We are looking at 10-2 or 11-1.

B) not much improvement with existing players on the roster. Kmac and Tuttle take freshman lumps and are not that effective. Not a lot different than last year overall. 7-5 or lucky 8-4.
 
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#65
#65
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
why on earth would you expect us to win the SEC in 2016 if the best we'll be in 2015 is 8-4 with a win over Florida? IMO the only way you can put us as SEC champion in 2016 is if we go 9-3 or better in 2015.

8-4 is standing pat. 9-3 means we're moving toward being a contender. We need to start beating teams we're not supposed to beat. Losing to Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Arkansas or Missouri means we're still not anything close to championship material in 2016.
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This logic makes no sense at all. We expect to improve year to year right. We will have a lot more quality juniors and seniors in 2016, that's why we will be better. Using your logic we would never improve. We all got about what we expected last year, so that means we can't expect better this year?
 
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#66
#66
mocfan said:
Not sure how 8-4 is standing pat????
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standing pat = beating only the teams you're supposed to beat

we went 6-6 in the regular season last year. other than south carolina, I don't think there is one win we got against a team where we didn't have a significant talent advantage. we need to start beating them we're not overwhelmingly more talented than before we can start talking SEC title in 2016.

I'm actually optomisitic about the upcoming season. I just don't get the idea of doing cartwheels over a 8-4 season. That is what should be expected given the fact we have a SIGNIFICANT talent advantage over 7 of our opponents next fall.
 
#67
#67
CWGvol said:
This logic makes no sense at all. We expect to improve year to year right. We will have a lot more quality juniors and seniors in 2016, that's why we will be better. Using your logic we would never improve. We all got about what we expected last year, so that means we can't expect better this year?
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I don't care how many talented upperclassmen you have if they don't know how to win games against good teams. 8-4 next season means we would essentially have lost 4 out of the 5 "toss-up" games on our schedule. Oklahoma, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri. Those 5 games will decide our season. Given that 3 of the 5 are at home, I don't think expecting our team to go 2-3 is much to ask for. If we go 8-4, it means we lost 4 of those 5 "toss-up" games.

I personally wouldn't feel confident about the team in 2016, if in 2015 they couldn't beat teams that are as talented as they were. Ohio State won the national title last year with essentially a core made up of sophomores. We can't keep using youth as an excuse. If this team loses all those "toss-up" games in 2015, I don't know why you would feel confident that anything would change in 2016 with essentially the same group?
 
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#69
#69
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
I don't care how many talented upperclassmen you have if they don't know how to win games against good teams. 8-4 next season means we would essentially have lost 4 out of the 5 "toss-up" games on our schedule. Oklahoma, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri. Those 5 games will decide our season. Given that 3 of the 5 are at home, I don't think expecting our team to go 2-3 is much to ask for. If we go 8-4, it means we lost 4 of those 5 "toss-up" games.

I personally wouldn't feel confident about the team in 2016, if in 2015 they couldn't beat teams that are as talented as they were. Ohio State won the national title last year with essentially a core made up of sophomores. We can't keep using youth as an excuse. If this team loses all those "toss-up" games in 2015, I don't know why you would feel confident that anything would change in 2016 with essentially the same group?
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So a team that gets two wins better in 2015 can't possibly get two games better in 2016 (which would likely be enough to win the east). Ok.

IMO the difference in 2016 will be talent on the OL. Most of our potential on the OL right now is in players in their first or second year. Moving on from Kerbyson, Jackson, and Crowder to Richmond, Wiesman (or Sanders) and Thomas will be an obvious improvement that should help us open up our running game and deep passing game.
 
#70
#70
missvol said:
I sure don't want to lose to OU 2 years in a row especially in Neyland
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I live in Texas, but born and raised in Knoxville, worked 18 years for the UT Physics department before moving on for better career opportunities. I was at the OU game last year for that trouncing with a few really good highlights from our Vols. I went to the game with a person I work with who is a huge OU fan. During the game, every time OU made a good play, he had this jeering, loud-a$$ cheer that made me want to f'ing punch him. By the time, it was 34-10 and I'm watching Vic Wharton making plays in the fourth quarter, all I want is for it to be over.

Nothing, but nothing would give me greater satisfaction that for us to win and to smack-down that OU workmate, supposedly friend of mine :)

Seriously, everyone in the OU stadium was very gracious to me wearing my Orange and White and I so hope that we are gracious hosts for them.

But please, Vols let's whup dat a$$!
 
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#73
#73
Nobody seems to be talking much about beating the puppys, beside of the Gators i really want to beat their arse. belive we will !!! G.B.O
 
#74
#74
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
why on earth would you expect us to win the SEC in 2016 if the best we'll be in 2015 is 8-4 with a win over Florida? IMO the only way you can put us as SEC champion in 2016 is if we go 9-3 or better in 2015.

8-4 is standing pat. 9-3 means we're moving toward being a contender. We need to start beating teams we're not supposed to beat. Losing to Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Arkansas or Missouri means we're still not anything close to championship material in 2016.
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Auburn says Hello. wth does 15 record have to do with 16? 16 will see more depth, experience, and a 4th year of system stability. Barring our coaching staff leaving before 16, again, how does 15 dictate 16?
 
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#75
#75
malinoisvol said:
Auburn says Hello. wth does 15 record have to do with 16? 16 will see more depth, experience, and a 4th year of system stability. Barring our coaching staff leaving before 16, again, how does 15 dictate 16?
Click to expand...

It doesn't. That poster is thinking more like a Manziel than a Dobbs.
 
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