Excuse for ‘26

[#1fulmerite]

Reading the expectation thread and hearing “rebuilding” year, made me think about all of the excuses over the years. Instead of resurrecting an old thread and, since the football forum is essentially devoid this time of year, out of the choices above, what do you think will be the excuse if CJH doesn’t make it to the playoffs this season?

I’ve found some doozies in old threads. However, if you think of one not listed, feel free to add it.

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

New DC

 

[90 Vol]

The answer depends on who is making the excuses.

 

[Volador]

Hmmmm, so VN is already expecting excuses for this season, huh?? Excuse me but, there's no excuse for this thread, as we at VN must be 110% positive and not consider excuses till the proper time, right?

But FYI, I am going with J. - which is all the above but the funny attempt at Phil

 

[508mikey]

Beldar set the program back 10 years

 

[temptn]

Only nine responses? You'll need more than that for this crowd.

 

[Eastknox865]

This is year 6 there are no excuses

 

[vols 30]

We could have a team with all seniors and juniors and people would still use the rebuild/young excuse

 

[GordonC]

Please make it stop

 

[GSPVol]

This is year 6 there are no excuses

But we're still dealing with NCAA sanctions.

 

[cherokeeeVOL]

It's not on your list but lack of enough elite talent and experience at the right positions. To me that's pretty much the reason every year...

 

[Manchester Vol]

The Great Hulko! You should’ve never ever been fired! Bring back to big Orange pumpkin dammit!

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

Stupid NCAA

 

[vols40]

Reading the expectation thread and hearing “rebuilding” year, made me think about all of the excuses over the years. Instead of resurrecting an old thread and, since the football forum is essentially devoid this time of year, out of the choices above, what do you think will be the excuse if CJH doesn’t make it to the playoffs this season?

I’ve found some doozies in old threads. However, if you think of one not listed, feel free to add it.

The reason will not matter because @#1fulmerite will make another meaningless poll

 

[WillisWG]

What's the excuse for this thread?

 

[508mikey]

What's the excuse for this thread?

Idk Beldar ?

 

[WillisWG]

Tennessee Football's 2026 Over/Under Win Total May Be Lower Than You'd Guess | Rocky Top Insider

A look at where Tennessee football's over/under win-total is set by Vegas as spring camp is set to begin on Monday.

www.rockytopinsider.com

The scheduling this season certainly plays a factor into lower projected win totals across the conference. The SEC is switching to a nine-game conference schedule, which means one out-of-conference game, which is typically a buy-game, is off the board.

On FanDuel, you can get Tennessee winning over 6.5 games at -144 and under 6.5 games at +118.

Here is the full list of SEC win totals on FanDuel:

Georgia – 9.5
Texas – 9.5
Alabama – 8.5
LSU – 8.5
Texas A&M – 8.5
Oklahoma – 7.5
Ole Miss – 7.5
Auburn – 6.5
Florida – 6.5
Missouri – 6.5
Tennessee – 6.5
Vanderbilt – 6.5
Kentucky – 5.5
South Carolina – 5.5
Arkansas – 4.5
Mississippi State – 4.5

 

[ftsandersvol]

All of the above.

 

[superdave1984]

They shoulda fired Heupel and paid kiffin a bazillion dollars.

 

[Flogballs]

Negavols like the OP

 

[Tin Man]

 

[VolFreakJosh]

The OP must be brain dead if he thought this was thread worthy

 

[Odiodin]

You can not look at the roster being built and the schedule and call 2026 the year. Next window is 28/29.

With Heupel we always will have the chance of catching lightning in a bottle on offense though.

But… that’s all conventional logic… NIL era could get even wilder.

 

[J C Higgins]

It's not on your list but lack of enough elite talent and experience at the right positions. To me that's pretty much the reason every year...

And usually the reason for any team