Sporting News: Are Michigan, Tennessee worth the hype?

#1
Fingers

Fingers

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#4
#4
100% agree. Beating UGA was good and I thought the 2013 win over USCe was a great coaching job (and an amazing MN catch.) However, you MUST compete with and beat Bama and UF. It is non-negotiable.

Ok Butch, I'm all in... I believe. Bama was on the ropes... Florida for the last 2 years.

Finish. The. Job.
 
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#5
#5
Article is dead on. The one concern not mentioned:

Can Tennessee handle the hype?

So many here are all jacked up with AP rankings, like they actually mean something anymore. Understandable, because years of the polls deciding championships have them salivating at high rankings like Pavlov's dog being fed at the ringing of a bell.

But there is a sense of pride to the rankings for fans, and to a team that has not gotten that recognition in a long time, it may give them a sense of satisfaction. But does that high ranking motivate them, or does it soften their focus?

No doubt it will give opponents extra motivation. Beating a ranked team is always a rallying cry for their opponents to build their reputations. And if that ranked team does not play to their full potential by underestimating their opponent, the fall hurts.

While the sense of pride & hope that comes with the attention the rankings reflect, it also brings a nervousness. Can this team keep the edge they need to make the championship run we all hope for? I believe they can, but they need to be very careful. They really need to beat Florida. They really need to beat Alabama. Hell, beat everyone, starting with Appy State.

But most of all, they need to handle the hype. Guess we will find out soon enough if they can. GO VOLS.
 
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#6
#6
When the biggest question mark from a 9-4 team is who is going to replace Patrick Ashford, I'd say the hype was pretty well justified.

I'm not worried about the team handling the pressure, my only concern for 16' is the same as it has been the last two years... game planning,
offensive scheme, and playcalling.
 
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#7
#7
I really can't stand the "can we handle the hype" narrative.

We handled it just fine LAST SEASON. We were predicted to finish 2nd in the SEC East according to the media. Guess where we finished? 2nd. We were rated the #25 team in both the AP and coaches preseason poll. We finished #22 and #23 in each one.

So Tennessee handled the hype just fine last year.

We met expectations at the very least. And in some ways you could argue we exceeded the expectations. I don't think anyone would've predicted last year that Tennessee would lead 2 of the 4 playoff teams with 2 and a half minutes left in the 4th quarter.

Folks have to drop this narrative that we didn't handle the hype well last year. We exceeded it.
 
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#8
#8
TNnative said:
Article is dead on. The one concern not mentioned:

Can Tennessee handle the hype?

So many here are all jacked up with AP rankings, like they actually mean something anymore. Understandable, because years of the polls deciding championships have them salivating at high rankings like Pavlov's dog being fed at the ringing of a bell.

But there is a sense of pride to the rankings for fans, and to a team that has not gotten that recognition in a long time, it may give them a sense of satisfaction. But does that high ranking motivate them, or does it soften their focus?

No doubt it will give opponents extra motivation. Beating a ranked team is always a rallying cry for their opponents to build their reputations. And if that ranked team does not play to their full potential by underestimating their opponent, the fall hurts.

While the sense of pride & hope that comes with the attention the rankings reflect, it also brings a nervousness. Can this team keep the edge they need to make the championship run we all hope for? I believe they can, but they need to be very careful. They really need to beat Florida. They really need to beat Alabama. Hell, beat everyone, starting with Appy State.

But most of all, they need to handle the hype. Guess we will find out soon enough if they can. GO VOLS.
Click to expand...

We were leading the reigning college football national champions at their house late in the game. They were a 5 point better team than 119. Team 120 will handle the hype at Neyland 3rd Saturday of October 2016.
 
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#9
#9
This Tennessee team will handle the hype going 10-2 and winning the SEC East. Michigan wont do as well as expected going 9-3 and getting invited to the Outback Bowl.
 
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#10
#10
HoptownVol said:
When the biggest question mark from a 9-4 team is who is going to replace Patrick Ashford, I'd say the hype was pretty well justified.

I'm not worried about the team handling the pressure, my only concern for 16' is the same as it has been the last two years... game planning,
offensive scheme, and playcalling.
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with game planning.
 
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#12
#12
No matter how next year turns out. Ending one or both of those streaks needs to happen.. Best chance to do it against Bama in forever. Florida just keeps escaping.. Should have beat them already.
 
#13
#13
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
I really can't stand the "can we handle the hype" narrative.

We handled it just fine LAST SEASON. We were predicted to finish 2nd in the SEC East according to the media. Guess where we finished? 2nd. We were rated the #25 team in both the AP and coaches preseason poll. We finished #22 and #23 in each one.

So Tennessee handled the hype just fine last year.

We met expectations at the very least. And in some ways you could argue we exceeded the expectations. I don't think anyone would've predicted last year that Tennessee would lead 2 of the 4 playoff teams with 2 and a half minutes left in the 4th quarter.

Folks have to drop this narrative that we didn't handle the hype well last year. We exceeded it.
Click to expand...

I loled. We wilted big time. 2015 was the easiest schedule Tennessee has had in over a decade. The SEC east resembled the ACC east. We have top 10 talent and lost 4 games. We folded like a house of cards. That preseason poll had us 25th based on realistic expectations of what we WOULD do, not what we SHOULD do. They knew Butch. Twas an utter failure.Hopefully, 2016 will be better with Shoop on board. Kudos to Butch for realizing it and making a change.
 
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#14
#14
WesternKyVol said:
I loled. We wilted big time. 2015 was the easiest schedule Tennessee has had in over a decade. The SEC east resembled the ACC east. We have top 10 talent and lost 4 games. We folded like a house of cards. That preseason poll had us 25th based on realistic expectations of what we WOULD do, not what we SHOULD do. They knew Butch. Twas an utter failure.Hopefully, 2016 will be better with Shoop on board. Kudos to Butch for realizing it and making a change.
Click to expand...

Wrong. Your reconstruction of what happened last year is just wrong. There is no other word for it.

If you wanted to make this argument for the Arkansas game, I would say you nailed it. That is the ONLY game our Vols "folded like a house of cards" in. We got worn out by the 4th Qtr in the OK and FL games. Plus, we made a long series of costly mistakes, players and coaches alike. That's not folding, that's lacking depth and experience. We fought right up to the final bell in the Bama game; came up short, but not for lack of trying. That's not "folding" or "wilting" either.

You're trying to reinvent Vols history to fit some agenda. Those of us who care for Team 119 won't allow it.
 
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#15
#15
WesternKyVol said:
I loled. We wilted big time. 2015 was the easiest schedule Tennessee has had in over a decade. The SEC east resembled the ACC east. We have top 10 talent and lost 4 games. We folded like a house of cards. That preseason poll had us 25th based on realistic expectations of what we WOULD do, not what we SHOULD do. They knew Butch. Twas an utter failure.Hopefully, 2016 will be better with Shoop on board. Kudos to Butch for realizing it and making a change.
Click to expand...

How soon we forget ALL the injuries and one of the youngest OL and DLs in the league. Once these players started to get experience their potential stood out like a sore thumb. I don't agree with your assessment, 4th quarter losses point toward inexperience and conditioning.........2016 will be a better team, bigger, faster, stronger and UT will open up the play book even more.

Go Vols! :rock::rock::rock:
 
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#18
#18
WesternKyVol said:
I loled. We wilted big time. 2015 was the easiest schedule Tennessee has had in over a decade. The SEC east resembled the ACC east. We have top 10 talent and lost 4 games. We folded like a house of cards. That preseason poll had us 25th based on realistic expectations of what we WOULD do, not what we SHOULD do. They knew Butch. Twas an utter failure.Hopefully, 2016 will be better with Shoop on board. Kudos to Butch for realizing it and making a change.
Click to expand...

As I read this post, all I could think of was the famous saying from Asimov. To paraphrase, and to massage his words slightly: "The problem with Volnation is that it nurtures a false notion that one's ignorance is equal to the other's knowledge."
 
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#20
#20
WesternKyVol said:
I loled. We wilted big time. 2015 was the easiest schedule Tennessee has had in over a decade. The SEC east resembled the ACC east. We have top 10 talent and lost 4 games. We folded like a house of cards. That preseason poll had us 25th based on realistic expectations of what we WOULD do, not what we SHOULD do. They knew Butch. Twas an utter failure.Hopefully, 2016 will be better with Shoop on board. Kudos to Butch for realizing it and making a change.
Click to expand...

"Better*to remain silent and be thought a fool*than to speak out and remove all doubt." - Abraham Lincoln*...
 
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#25
#25
There was a thread created on another forum, where people were asked to post their 2016 Playoff prediction. Several of them had us in the Playoff so guess some are buying into the hype as well.

Predictions: (none of them were Tennessee fans)
Clemson
Tennessee
Oregon
Oklahoma

Tenn
Baylor
USC
Clemson

Michigan
Tennessee
Baylor or TCU
Stanford

Ohio State
Oregon
Tennessee
Clemson
 
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