Poll: Would you rather have Auburn, Florida, USCjr or UK as a permanent rival?

Auburn or Florida?

  • Auburn

  • Florida

  • South Carolina

  • Kentucky

Results are only viewable after voting.
#27
#27
VFL-82-JP said:
You left Kentucky off that list. And it checks all the blocks.

(a) Even older rival than Auburn.
(b) "easy win" for the "let's have cupcakes" crowd.
(c) We've played them more times than any other team outside the borders of Tennessee.

I do like considering Florida and Auburn, they're good choices, but South Carolina doesn't belong there. It's not a rival. Never has been. Even Spurrier coaching there for a decade or so couldn't turn it into one. Very Johnny-come-lately.

So replace South Carolina with Kentucky, and you have a great poll question.
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I believe UT has played Kentucky more than anyone in or outside the state.
 
#30
#30
volfan_28 said:
1654457194351-jpeg.461380

It's unfortunately that we aren't going to be considered a top-tier team when this decision is made. It's obvious that whoever put these Pods together is trying to eventually distribute quality, as if seeding a tournament...

1 seeds: Georgia, Alabama, Texas A&M, Oklahoma
2 seeds: Florida, Auburn, LSU, Texas
3 seeds: Kentucky, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Arkansas
4 seeds: South Carolina, Vanderbilt, MSU, Missouri

This makes the most sense for the conference... not only is is evenly distributed, it preserves the rivalries. It's just unfortunate that we aren't one of those 1 or 2 seeds.. being a 3 or 4 in this layout long-term is a tough spot to be in.
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While their recent history is better than Tennessee, I wouldn't put Auburn as a first tier SEC program.

I'd be interested to know how the two championship game participants will be chosen. If you go with best two records, be prepared for using tie breakers a lot because there will likely be multiple teams with identical records.

Also could both teams in the championship be from the same pod?

And can we get a better name than "pods"? These are football teams, not whales.
 
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#31
#31
dobre_shunka said:
While their recent history is better than Tennessee, I wouldn't put Auburn as a first tier SEC program.

I'd be interested to know how the two championship game participants will be chosen. If you go with best two records, be prepared for using tie breakers a lot because there will likely be multiple teams with identical records.

Also could both teams in the championship be from the same pod?

And can we get a better name than "pods"? These are football teams, not whales.
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A four-team playoff to decide who goes to the big four-team playoff?
 
#32
#32
Nationdom said:
beating UK, Vandy, and usc does nothing for me. they mean nothing. beat teams that matter. I dont wait all year to watch vandy and usc.
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You can't play a full Schedule of good/Great teams. No one does that. If you play Bama every year, then you need a couple of easier games.
 
#35
#35
DiderotsGhost said:
Kentucky. And bring back the beer barrel!
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I've always wondered why a state famous for its whiskey, and a state known for its bourbon, got together to choose a beer barrel as a game trophy. Does anyone know that backstory? Can anyone share it?


EDIT: I just googled it, found this well-written article.

Reliving the rise and fall of the ‘Battle of the Barrel’

It doesn't say why the lads were drinking beer instead of Kentucky bourbon that Saturday in the fall of 1925, but does a good job of covering the tradition in general.

Go Vols!
 
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#37
#37
vols 30 said:
You can't play a full Schedule of good/Great teams. No one does that. If you play Bama every year, then you need a couple of easier games.
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have you seen our non conference schedule lately? it's sad and tired. we have plenty of cupcakes. give me the big boys of the SEC. Tennessee plays and beats the best.
 
#39
#39
vols 30 said:
I'd rather upgrade the non conference.
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The most important games are the SEC games. I wish we could play all of them, but realize that would be too many games. I agree we should get rid of playing games against out of conference game as long as all SEC teams are required to do the same. I also have no problems in changing schedules every two or so years to ensure that all teams play a schedule which are as equally difficult as possible. As long as we have Divisions, the two highest ranked teams should be playing in National Playoff games.
 
#42
#42
I know there so much money and connect to many of these rivalries so it’s difficult to change. But I’d love to see a flat out equal rotation amongst all sec teams with no permanent opponents. As and sec east team we’ve been absolutely handicapped in recent years with having to play bama every year. Now you might say that’s no different than any other sec west team however most of the sec west teams don’t annually play Georgia (and even Florida who at times have been a juggernaut).
 
#44
#44
Kentucky, Vandy and Alabama are far and away our most historic match ups. We have played Ole Miss more often than Florida over the years. It's only been recently that we have played Georgia more than we played Georgia Tech.
 
#45
#45
NeverWe'llSever said:
(Edited to include UK)

In the new format which will likely be 3-6-6 (because money), the common denominator for opponents in every model I’ve seen are Bama and Vandy, so we’re not getting out of those 2, it seems (not too sad about Vandy).

It is very possible in a pod system, UT could be paired with Alabama, Vandy and Auburn. I have seen another scenario where UT is paired with Alabama, UF and Vandy. And the final and probably best one I have seen is with Alabama, Vandy and USCjr. Which would you prefer?

Florida: Personally, I say the less UT has to play Florida, the better. We’re cursed against UF. Even Alabama I feel like we can beat them somewhat consistently once Saban is gone. I want UF to only be a bi-annual concern. However, I feel I’m in the minority here. Some Vol fans are apparently masochists when it comes to Florida.

Auburn: They would be better imo. They are also technically a more historic rival. We recruit head to head with the War Tigers more than Florida for ATL talent, and they are definitely not a program who is consistently good enough to beat us 11 years in a row.

USCjr: This is a team that is tough to beat on the road (kind’ve), but we dominate them at home (they have 3 wins in Neyland all-time and all 3 were close wins). We recruit against them a lot as well for Carolina talent.

UK: The best outcome, of course. Our most historic opponent, along with Vandy. UK’s program has improved, as well as the interest for the game. But I am confident we will continue to dominate UK. It seems we always play well against them, home or away.

Links/Pics:

UT plays Auburn

View attachment 461380

UT plays Florida

View attachment 461379

UT plays USCjr

What SEC football schedule format is best? Here's our rivalry modelView attachment 461382

UT plays UK

Which new SEC schedule format should Tennessee football fans want?
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Who can get excited about KY, VANDY, OR SC?

This pod system will suck. I don't know why they can't add Ok and Tx without screwing everything up. Moving Bama and Aub to the east would have made much better sense
 
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#46
#46
I'd personally just as soon replace Vandy with Auburn or Ole Miss. But out of respect for George Cafego let's keep them and beat the hell out of them every year.
 
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#50
#50
Kentucky is beneath us. Auburn I don’t hate. Florida has every ounce of my hatred. I chose them we must settle the score with them
 
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