College Football's 25 Most Overhyped Players, Coaches and Teams for 2016

#1
Enki_Amenra

Enki_Amenra

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#1
Joshua Dobbs, Tennessee



Did you know Joshua Dobbs is working toward a degree in aerospace engineering? Or that Tennessee coach Butch Jones refers to him as the “CEO” of the team, per Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee? If not, you've somehow avoided one of the most well-chronicled college quarterbacks in recent memory.

Dobbs is entering his senior year as the Volunteers' full-time starter for the second straight season, but in 2012 and 2013 he also garnered attention for his play after being inserted into the lineup midway through each year. His numbers—and Tennessee's win total—have gone up each year, though it feels like Dobbs should have accomplished more by this point.
"I hold myself to a high standard in how I play with my execution," Dobbs told Sallee.

Tennessee fans do too, which is why after another strong finish to a season they're expecting Dobbs to lead the Vols to the SEC title game for the first time since 2007.
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Tennessee Volunteers



Stop us if you've heard this one before.

After a disappointing first half of the 2015 season, Tennessee came alive down the stretch by winning its final six games. That included a blowout victory over a Big Ten school (Northwestern) in a Florida-based bowl game (Outback Bowl), sending the Volunteers into the offseason brimming with confidence.

It's much the same way 2014 ended, with Tennessee winning four of five, including a game against Iowa in the TaxSlayer Bowl, and instantly becoming the hottest 7-6 team in the country. A program that hadn't had a winning record in five years was suddenly getting included in the playoff discussion, with nothing less than an SEC East championship expected.

Having failed to live up to the hype they generated last offseason, the Vols will want to push aside the attention this spring and summer. But they can't prevent what others think, such as being highly ranked in various way-too-early Top 25 polls such as the one from Colin Becht of Sports Illustrated in which Tennessee earned the No. 8 spot thanks to "a more experienced team and proven playmakers all over the field."
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~
By Brian Pedersen
 
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#2
#2
Reading his opening page, it's clear that "overhyped" doesn't necessarily mean "wrong."
The writer introduces his article as, "...a list of players, coaches and teams you'll end up hearing the most about this offseason. Some of them will be deserving of all the attention, others maybe not so much. Either way, they're going to be facing incredibly lofty expectations...."

We're in pretty good company with some of the other teams on that list, including Ohio State, LSU and Michigan. Not a shabby neighborhood.

Meanwhile, Josh is on the list because he's a surprisingly cerebral student in a demanding major, who is also an exciting playmaker on field; nothing wrong with that, either.

Overhyped sometimes means "won't stand the test"; here's hoping that's not true of us or ours in 2016.

Go Vols!
 
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#3
#3
VFL-82-JP said:
Reading his opening page, it's clear that "overhyped" doesn't necessarily mean "wrong."
The writer introduces his article as, "...a list of players, coaches and teams you'll end up hearing the most about this offseason. Some of them will be deserving of all the attention, others maybe not so much. Either way, they're going to be facing incredibly lofty expectations...."

We're in pretty good company with some of the other teams on that list, including Ohio State, LSU and Michigan. Not a shabby neighborhood.

Meanwhile, Josh is on the list because he's a surprisingly cerebral student in a demanding major, who is also an exciting playmaker on field; nothing wrong with that, either.

Overhyped sometimes means "won't stand the test"; here's hoping that's not true of us or ours in 2016.

Go Vols!
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I think the missing ingredient is injuries, off field problems and depth. I believe UT has addressed these issues, although "off field" issues can happen without warning. CBJ goes after high character athletes, those that are willing to do what it takes for the team and not just themselves. The NFL likes winners, and a team that is winning gets noticed. UT has depth and the players, the injury bug needs to be eradicated as much as possible.

On the Athletic piece, what I have noticed, that each player that has been in the system >2 years looks BEASTLY.

Go Vols!!:rock::rock::rock::rock::rock:
 
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#4
#4
When a team hasn't lost fewer than 4 games in forever and is projected by some in the top 10 it's hard to not looked "overhyped".
 
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#12
#12
I hate it when people say we didn't live up to the hype last year. Very few people had us as a playoff team or even the east winner. Most reasonable people said 8-4 give or take a game.
 
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#14
#14
Dobbs is entering his senior year as the Volunteers' full-time starter for the second straight season, but in 2012 and 2013 he also garnered attention for his play after being inserted into the lineup midway through each year.
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Wrong. It takes two seconds to fact check this, Brian Pedersen.
 
#15
#15
"not living up to the hype" last year is just stupid and shows how little research this guy actually did on us... we had a ton of young players, key injuries, no one really projected anything more than 8 wins, and oh, by the way, we play in the SEC..... uh DUH. Yes, we certainly pissed a couple of leads/games away last year, but most in the know of college football agreed that we did quite well considering the hand we were dealt.
 
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#16
#16
Mark Richt for one would disagree on Dobbs being over-hyped!

Dobbs more than anyone, enabled Coach Richt to move to a retirement community in South Florida.
 
#17
#17
This "Tennessee fans always think it's THE YEAR" narrative is so played out.

Our hardcore, uber-optimistic fans are no worse than any other SEC diehard fan base.

Our fanbase hasn't been 2016-hype since MAYBE 2007. Definitely 2005.
 
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#19
#19
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
This guy will look like a moron in 9 months. Overhyped my ass.
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To be fair, he admitted that some of his picks will probably live up to the hype.

It is a list of 25 players, coaches, and teams after all. He knows he's gonna be wrong on some. He's mostly just listing those who have a lot of hype but have yet to live up to the potential many believe they have.

I'd say that overall our team fits that bill pretty well.
 
#21
#21
BigSteve09 said:
This "Tennessee fans always think it's THE YEAR" narrative is so played out.

Our hardcore, uber-optimistic fans are no worse than any other SEC diehard fan base.

Our fanbase hasn't been 2016-hype since MAYBE 2007. Definitely 2005.
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Yeah, this Pederson guy is a clown (or so it would appear). We were playoff picks and the East favorites in 2015? Really? I'd like to see him cite a source for that.
 
#24
#24
volinbama256 said:
"not living up to the hype" last year is just stupid and shows how little research this guy actually did on us... we had a ton of young players, key injuries, no one really projected anything more than 8 wins, and oh, by the way, we play in the SEC..... uh DUH. Yes, we certainly pissed a couple of leads/games away last year, but most in the know of college football agreed that we did quite well considering the hand we were dealt.
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To be fair, most pundits had it between us and UGA winning the East. I would definitely characterize our losses to UF and Ark as us underachieving.
 
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#25
#25
Well, at least we're being talked about...overhyped...underhyped...only time will tell for sure, but in the meantime...BEAT GATORS AND BAMA!

GO VOLS!
 
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