I’m not sure Tennessee has ever had a schedule with so many ranked opponents?

[utfantilidie]

AP Georgia 1. Bama 5 Kentucky 10 Ole Miss 13 Florida 20

 

[rocketskates]

I think one of those Dooley years our schedule was pretty loaded with ranked opponents. We consistently have a tough schedule though. We play Georgia and Florida every year as well as Bama. Seems like when we schedule an additional opponent from the west it’s always TAMU or LSU back when they were good.

 

[WillisWG]

I think one of those Dooley years our schedule was pretty loaded with ranked opponents. We consistently have a tough schedule though. We play Georgia and Florida every year as well as Bama. Seems like when we schedule an additional opponent from the west it’s always TAMU or LSU back when they were good.

Butch with 7 ranked teams 2013, Dooley faced 5 ranked each year

 

[WilcoVolsFan]

AP Georgia 1. Bama 5 Kentucky 10 Ole Miss 13 Florida 20

& Pittsburgh at the equivalent of #34 in the "others receiving votes" category

 

[Johnnyreb#VFL]

Beat Ole Miss Saturday and we will be a ranked opponent

 

[IluvdoubleD's]

Tennessee traditionally has one of the hardest schedules in the world. It's normal.

 

[WillisWG]

2013
1 Bama
2 Oregon
6 Georgia
7 Auburn
10 Missouri
11 South Carolina beat them 23-21, only to lose 10-14 to Vandy
19 Florida

 

[IluvdoubleD's]

this is an annual thing. Tennessee has tough schedules. Just facts.

 

[spyfish007]

It should be noted as we improve we will push other teams down. The schedule will be "easier".

 

[Dudleys87]

Bring on the tough schedule.
Nobody can ever say we didnt earn it then.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

Go far enough back, you will find plenty of very tough schedules. It's what we do! GBO!!!!

 

[jeff1vol]

2013
1 Bama
2 Oregon
6 Georgia
7 Auburn
10 Missouri
11 South Carolina beat them 23-21, only to lose 10-14 to Vandy
19 Florida

And fans WONDER why its been so hard to gain any type of momentum. Ooof.

 

[WillisWG]

And fans WONDER why its been so hard to gain any type of momentum. Ooof.

Big boy league for sure

 

[General Jack]

Start with Florida, Alabama and Georgia, there’s 3 ranked teams most years. Add in a strong non conference opponent, there’s 4. Our rotating SEC west opponent is usually ranked, there’s 5. Then often as not, one of Mizzou, SC or Kentucky is ranked, so 6. Then once every hundred years, like 2013, Vandy is ranked.

 

[WillisWG]

Start with Florida, Alabama and Georgia, there’s 3 ranked teams most years. Add in a strong non conference opponent, there’s 4. Our rotating SEC west opponent is usually ranked, there’s 5. Then often as not, one of Mizzou, SC or Kentucky is ranked, so 6. Then once every hundred years, like 2013, Vandy is ranked.

Yep, add 1 for SECCG, couple in playoffs or 1 in a bowl....

 

[chattavol420]

It’s the permanent cross division game against bama that really makes it so tough for us. I for one can’t stand it. It just flat out gives uga, uf, and now even uk a distinct advantage over us. And we don’t need to be giving anyone else any advantages. Old timers will always talk about sitiry etc. I for one couldn’t care less. I care about my son getting to see Tennessee regularly figuring into the sece race and that’s much more challenging with bama in there every year. Hopefully with Oklahoma and Texas coming on board it’ll open the door for scrapping that yearly game. I hope Danny white and others agree. It’ll ultimately be up to them I’d say

 

[Rickyvol77]

AP Georgia 1. Bama 5 Kentucky 10 Ole Miss 13 Florida 20

Check that year under butch we played like 6 top 15 teams

 

[DiderotsGhost]

I'm not sure that we've ever NOT had a schedule with that many ranked opponents. At least in the past 10 - 15 years. When's the last time we didn't play at least 5 ranked opponents? Think we might've even had a year with 4 top 10 opponents in there somewhere.

 

[Biso]

In 1991 we played ranked teams 5 consecutive weeks. Beat No. 21 UCLA 30-16 on a sweltering hot day in Neyland (maybe the single loudest moment in the stadium's history before the upper bowl was completed in '97 was Tracy Smith's 38-yard pick-six in that game). Then came back with a 26-24 win over No. 23 Mississippi State. Beat No. 13 Auburn 30-21. Lost to No. 10 Florida 35-18. Then to No. 14 Alabama 24-19 (we were down 24-3 in that one as I recall, came back and had the ball with an opportunity to win it at the end but Andy Kelly threw an INT). Finally got an unranked opponent in Memphis State, and won that one 52-24. Then the Miracle at South Bend against No. 5 Notre Dame, 35-34. Six ranked opponents in seven games. That may have been the toughest stretch ever for a Tennessee team.

The 1990 schedule was extremely tough, too. There were "only" 5 ranked teams on the schedule that year, but 4 of the 5 were Top 10 teams. Tied Colorado, which was No. 5 at the time and would go on to win the national championship. Tied Auburn, which was No. 3 at the time. Walloped Florida, which was No. 9 at the time, 45-3. Then lost to Notre Dame, which was No. 1 at the time, 34-29. Came back the next week and beat Ole Miss, which was No. 15, 22-13. That was the year we lost to unranked Alabama, 9-6, after they blocked a game-winning FG and turned it into their own game-winning FG. Majors lost to Alabama a lot when he shouldn't have, but that was definitely the worst.

 

[WillisWG]

I'm not sure that we've ever NOT had a schedule with that many ranked opponents. At least in the past 10 - 15 years. When's the last time we didn't play at least 5 ranked opponents? Think we might've even had a year with 4 top 10 opponents in there somewhere.

2019

Gators, UGA, BAMA

2015

OU, UGA, BAMA & Northwestern, so 3 in regular season won 1 UGA

2009 faced 3 regular season 1 in bowl

Gators, Bama, USCe, Virginia Tech beat Carolina

 

[Volnut]

It’s the permanent cross division game against bama that really makes it so tough for us. I for one can’t stand it. It just flat out gives uga, uf, and now even uk a distinct advantage over us. And we don’t need to be giving anyone else any advantages. Old timers will always talk about sitiry etc. I for one couldn’t care less. I care about my son getting to see Tennessee regularly figuring into the sece race and that’s much more challenging with bama in there every year. Hopefully with Oklahoma and Texas coming on board it’ll open the door for scrapping that yearly game. I hope Danny white and others agree. It’ll ultimately be up to them I’d say

Bammer and Auburn may well be in the SEC east when Texas and OU join.

 

[Orangethumb]

We used to always have a tough OOC opponent every season as well.

 

[USAFgolferVol]

Check that year under butch we played like 6 top 15 teams

Since the SEC has become the dominant force in college football, our schedule will always be tough. We're almost guaranteed to play a couple of top five teams and even a couple more top ten teams in any given year. I'm talking about final rankings too

 

[zeppelin128]

It’s the permanent cross division game against bama that really makes it so tough for us. I for one can’t stand it. It just flat out gives uga, uf, and now even uk a distinct advantage over us. And we don’t need to be giving anyone else any advantages. Old timers will always talk about sitiry etc. I for one couldn’t care less. I care about my son getting to see Tennessee regularly figuring into the sece race and that’s much more challenging with bama in there every year. Hopefully with Oklahoma and Texas coming on board it’ll open the door for scrapping that yearly game. I hope Danny white and others agree. It’ll ultimately be up to them I’d say

I'm not an old timer and I would be very disappointed if we scrap TSIO. I know it is a point of contention among folks since we have so many freaking rivals, but Bama will always be enemy number one for me. Florida a close second.

 

[USAFgolferVol]

I'm not an old timer and I would be very disappointed if we scrap TSIO. I know it is a point of contention among folks since we have so many freaking rivals, but Bama will always be enemy number one for me. Florida a close second.

When Oklahoma and Texas join the SEC, I would be in favor of a scheduling format that eliminated Alabama as an annual opponent. I'm an old timer