Could 1996 have been the year?

#51
#51
vtvol98 said:
So, if the offensive lines were garbage in those years, does that mean that Fulmer, himself an ex O-line coach, wasn't a good enough coach to turn things around. Truly won by out-talenting the opposition rather than outcoaching it.
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Well, the offensive line was much better a year later with much of the same personnel. Jamal Lewis ran for 1,364 yards in '97 as a freshman and averaged 5.9 yards per carry. I would call that turning it around.
 
#54
#54
IknoxvolsI said:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L3lt1xmlUD8

If we hadn't lost to Memphis and with Florida losing to Fla St. at the end of the year, could we have leap frogged Florida and played in the NC game against Fla St? Did the SECCG win over an unranked Arkansas help them that much?

Hindsight is always 20/20 and I remember Fulmer having to answer for all those failed two point conversions. Had he successfully kicked all extra points the score would have been different.

You VN historians think we would have had a chance against Fla St?

What say ye?
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No, we most likely would not have leapt them, especially with their still playing in the Sugar Bowl that year being due in part to their winning the SEC Championship...over a #11 ranked Alabama, not an unranked Arkansas. You've confused the 1996 SEC title game with the 1995 one; UF's win over the 23rd/24th ranked Arkansas team and 12-0 record that year resulted in their getting blown out by Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl.

Also what helped Florida wasn't just a win in Atlanta. First, what more helped UF (#4) was Nebraska (#3) losing the following weekend to Texas in the inaugural Big 12 Championship Game (the same weekend as Florida and Alabama played in Atlanta). From the system in play at the time, now ranked #3 and the SEC Champion UF went on to play in the Sugar Bowl, where it was given the opportunity to play #1 Florida State again, in part due to the Rose Bowl still having claim to #2 Arizona State (were it not for Texas beating Nebraska, though, UF would not have been in that game).

And it was #3 UF's beating of #1 Florida State combined with #4 Ohio State's upset over then 11-0 Arizona State in the Rose Bowl that gave Florida the national championship.


Since the Bowl Alliance System was so conference-champion based, UT would have just been looking at a higher ranking at year's end, with likely an Orange or Fiesta Bowl bid instead of the Citrus Bowl matchup.
 
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#56
#56
21 years ago. Damn it's been a long time since we were really good. F the UT administration who doesn't care about winning
 
#59
#59
TrueOrange said:
No, we most likely would not have leapt them, especially with their still playing in the Sugar Bowl that year being due in part to their winning the SEC Championship...over a #11 ranked Alabama, not an unranked Arkansas. You've confused the 1996 SEC title game with the 1995 one; UF's win over the 23rd/24th ranked Arkansas team and 12-0 record that year resulted in their getting blown out by Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl.

Also what helped Florida wasn't just a win in Atlanta. First, what more helped UF (#4) was Nebraska (#3) losing the following weekend to Texas in the inaugural Big 12 Championship Game (the same weekend as Florida and Alabama played in Atlanta). From the system in play at the time, now ranked #3 and the SEC Champion UF went on to play in the Sugar Bowl, where it was given the opportunity to play #1 Florida State again, in part due to the Rose Bowl still having claim to #2 Arizona State (were it not for Texas beating Nebraska, though, UF would not have been in that game).

And it was #3 UF's beating of #1 Florida State combined with #4 Ohio State's upset over then 11-0 Arizona State in the Rose Bowl that gave Florida the national championship.


Since the Bowl Alliance System was so conference-champion based, UT would have just been looking at a higher ranking at year's end, with likely an Orange or Fiesta Bowl bid instead of the Citrus Bowl matchup.
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Ohio State represented the Big Ten but did not win their Conference Championship. I would guess that the Commissioner of the Big Ten had something to do with that decision. If Tennessee had gone to and beaten Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, who thinks that Alabama would still have played for the National Title?
 
#60
#60
BowlBrother85 said:
They had Mike Mckenzie. That's about it. There is no excuse for Tennessee to have struggled the way they did that day. At the time Memphis beat Tennessee they were on a 4 game losing streak vs a really soft schedule and would lose the very next week to East Carolina.
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Um...wrong.

They had 3 drafted in the 5th through 7th rounds in 1997 (Williams - DE; Hogans - LB and Thomas - DT) and all on defense. McKenzie (DB) was drafted in the 3rd round in 1999 but played in the 96' game.

When UT has three drafted into the NFL on defense, we believe we had a good defense. They did as well. It didn't help that our OL was awful and Graham couldn't find a running lane all day. Yes, I was at that game.
 
#61
#61
utvols74 said:
Um...wrong.

They had 3 drafted in the 5th through 7th rounds in 1997 (Williams - DE; Hogans - LB and Thomas - DT) and all on defense. McKenzie (DB) was drafted in the 3rd round in 1999 but played in the 96' game.

When UT has three drafted into the NFL on defense, we believe we had a good defense. They did as well. It didn't help that our OL was awful and Graham couldn't find a running lane all day. Yes, I was at that game.
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Who gives a crap who was drafted in the late rounds? McKenzie was their only NFL player. That was hardly a 'stellar' defense as you stated. Unless stellar defenses get their butt kicked by Houston and Miss State (who both sucked at the time).

...and your line about 3 drafted players making a good defense is a joke. A good defense shows it on the field. We will have 3 players drafted on defense next month and our defense last season was one of our worst ever.
 
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#62
#62
I still wake up with cold sweats over that Memphis game. I didn't think we were ever going to get out of that stadium.
 
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#64
#64
dduncan4163 said:
Chief called the worst half I've ever seen from him against Florida. In a blink of a eye it was 35-0
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Yes, plus ... Were it not for Manning throwing pics and Graham throwing fumbles, there is no way were down that much. Truly disappointing. I thot 96' was the best team we had in that era.

To OPs original Q. If you're asking if an SEC winner with same record as an SEC loser that the SEC winner beat head on could be passed over for the natty. Techinically, I guess it's possible, but that would be massive fraud IMO.
 
#65
#65
Had some awesome atheletes back then!

http://*******************************/114/Contents/Tennessee-Recruiting-in-mid-1990s-24276300

Should have had at least another NC in there somewhere.
 
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#66
#66
livefaith said:
Yes, plus ... Were it not for Manning throwing pics and Graham throwing fumbles, there is no way were down that much. Truly disappointing. I thot 96' was the best team we had in that era.

To OPs original Q. If you're asking if an SEC winner with same record as an SEC loser that the SEC winner beat head on could be passed over for the natty. Techinically, I guess it's possible, but that would be massive fraud IMO.
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And it really wouldn't have happened with the Bowl Alliance system that was being used in 1996 (as opposed to the BCS system that allowed for what happened in 2011).
 
#67
#67
IknoxvolsI said:
The blow out of Fla St in the rematch, I think we would have had a good chance against them.
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Even with the Memphis win, we wouldn't have gotten a chance to even play them in 1996 under the Bowl Alliance system. Alabama would have to have beaten UF the next weekend in the SEC Championship...and even then (again, because of that system) you're in all likelihood looking at either 11-1 Ohio State (now #3) getting named the national champion for beating #2 Arizona State or even a serious possibility of a now #4 BYU being in the Sugar Bowl against FSU for winning its conference.
 
#68
#68
VOLINVONORE said:
Ohio State represented the Big Ten but did not win their Conference Championship. I would guess that the Commissioner of the Big Ten had something to do with that decision. If Tennessee had gone to and beaten Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, who thinks that Alabama would still have played for the National Title?
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I understand that happened this year with the College Football Playoff system, but I'm not sure how that really relates in response to my post you quoted.

I was responding to what the thread was about - the 1996 season - and talking about what likely would or wouldn't have happened in the 1996 system (the old Bowl Alliance system, which was even before the BCS)....
 
#69
#69
1996, 1997, 1999....all of those years could've been "the year" when Fulmer had it rolling and we were a relevant national power. Fortunately, 1998 was "the year". Perhaps one day we'll get back to being a program like we were in the 90s/early 2000s.
 
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