scottchatt
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On the drive home tonight I heard the question on the Tony B show:
Do the Vols feel like a Top 5 team?
The hosts, Tony wasn’t on, said no, and most callers agreed.
What are your thoughts?
I totally disagree. I think the reason a lot of fans, especially casual basketball fans feel this way is that they’ve just gotten used to good basketball at Tennessee.
In the last 6 seasons, 4 are 25 wins or better. You have 2 Sweet 16s. You have an SEC regular season title, an SEC tournament title and have made the Dance every year (minus Covid cancelled year). For reference on time period, that is the entire career of Tony Vitello at UT, and the entire Heupel and Pruitt eras. We have been an elite basketball school for a while….it’s become the norm. When you see a good team now, it just feels normal.
Sure, there’s 3 losses, three in a row even. But, those were to the current #1, #2 and #8 teams, and you won or tied all of them for a half. You played them all in 8 days, across 7 time zones and none were on your home court. Of the 13 teams you’ve played so far, 9 and possibly 10 will make the tournament……including the team you simply crushed tonight. Three will likely be #3 seeds or better. You probably won’t face a team as good as the three you’ve lost to again until at least the Sweet 16….UK being the only real possibility.
But the real way to answer this question, is Tennessee a top 5 team….who are 3 teams you think would be a guaranteed loss….if you don’t have them, Vols are Top 5.
Do the Vols feel like a Top 5 team?
The hosts, Tony wasn’t on, said no, and most callers agreed.
What are your thoughts?
I totally disagree. I think the reason a lot of fans, especially casual basketball fans feel this way is that they’ve just gotten used to good basketball at Tennessee.
In the last 6 seasons, 4 are 25 wins or better. You have 2 Sweet 16s. You have an SEC regular season title, an SEC tournament title and have made the Dance every year (minus Covid cancelled year). For reference on time period, that is the entire career of Tony Vitello at UT, and the entire Heupel and Pruitt eras. We have been an elite basketball school for a while….it’s become the norm. When you see a good team now, it just feels normal.
Sure, there’s 3 losses, three in a row even. But, those were to the current #1, #2 and #8 teams, and you won or tied all of them for a half. You played them all in 8 days, across 7 time zones and none were on your home court. Of the 13 teams you’ve played so far, 9 and possibly 10 will make the tournament……including the team you simply crushed tonight. Three will likely be #3 seeds or better. You probably won’t face a team as good as the three you’ve lost to again until at least the Sweet 16….UK being the only real possibility.
But the real way to answer this question, is Tennessee a top 5 team….who are 3 teams you think would be a guaranteed loss….if you don’t have them, Vols are Top 5.