Are we the Penn State of the SEC?

[McDad]

Ut sports must have an impact on you, you are here on Christmas eve eve. Anyways, after 40 years as a Vol Fan, I've learned to be realistic. And realistic is Tennessee wasn't really that good this year, and at least half of the best players are gone. Better to be realistic and surprised than optimistic and disappointed.

A different approach. Not better. Not worse.

 

[BowlBrother85]

Ut sports must have an impact on you, you are here on Christmas eve eve. Anyways, after 40 years as a Vol Fan, I've learned to be realistic. And realistic is Tennessee wasn't really that good this year, and at least half of the best players are gone. Better to be realistic and surprised than optimistic and disappointed.

That is so stupid. LOL.

 

[BowlBrother85]

A different approach. Not better. Not worse.

That guy is a loon.

 

[McDad]

Stuck where we have been under Heupel? That is a weird comment. I wouldn't blame Heupel if he bolted. This is an ungrateful fan base.

Our fans are the same as any big time program. Some are every bit as bad as Bama, UGA, or OSU fans.

 

[McDad]

That guy is a loon.

Meh. If one's identity is anchored to their fandom, I understand why they choose to be very protective of it. I choose something different though.

 

[BowlBrother85]

Our fans are the same as any big time program. Some are every bit as bad as Bama, UGA, or OSU fans.

The consensus belief on here during the coaching search in January of 2021, was that it could take Tennessee 4 or 5 years to even make another bowl game again. Pretty much everyone agreed that it would be almost impossible for the next coach to recruit at a high level while under an NCAA investigation for Level 1 violations that our Chancellor had already publicly acknowledged were committed.

Now, that was with most people assuming that the NCAA sanctions would be much heavier than they were ..... but still, this forum has a short memory. The job Heupel has done here is incredible. He really should leave and go somewhere that such results would be appreciated.

This place has been such a joke since Saturday night. People have lost their ever-loving minds.

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

I tink that's what he meant..........

I was reading it as “people never give us credit” moreso than “we would lose to real elite teams.” I could be wrong though

 

[GAV4L]

Stuck where we have been under Heupel? That is a weird comment. I wouldn't blame Heupel if he bolted. This is an ungrateful fan base.

Stuck at around 9-10 wins a year without any wins over elite opponents.

It's not a bad place to be "stuck" but it's a real ceiling. one that I'm fine with for now. But after a decade or more, it'll start being like UGA under Mark Richt. Which did lead to them getting Kirby, so it's not the worst place to be "stuck".

 

[McDad]

The consensus belief on here during the coaching search in January of 2021, was that it could take Tennessee 4 or 5 years to even make another bowl game again. Pretty much everyone agreed that it would be almost impossible for the next coach to recruit at a high level while under an NCAA investigation for Level 1 violations that our Chancellor had already publicly acknowledged were committed.

Now, that was with most people assuming that the NCAA sanctions would be much heavier than they were ..... but still, this forum has a short memory. The job Heupel has done here is incredible. He really should leave and go somewhere that such results would be appreciated.

This place has been such a joke since Saturday night. People have lost their ever-loving minds.

People are the worst.

The vexed vocally vomiting vitriol don't define this fandom. He is greatly appreciated. And I think he knows it.

 

[Bleeding.Orange]

No we have not beat elite teams , take off your SEC conference koolaid goggles. Elite teams are elite in every aspect of their team. Name of team don’t make them elite . OSU, GA, Texas and Oregon right now are the elite. And we are waaaay below them . Every time we play Georgia should tell you just how elite we are. Not playing a Alabama that is no longer elite, Florida not elite , Ark not elite, Miss State not elite etc etc etc

Lolololol 2022 Alabama was def Elite but yall act like the sky is falling when we just made the CFP for the first time ever and second 10 win season in 3 years. We are literally still under NCAA sanctions as well. It isn't gonna happen instantly get it through yalls skulls, it takes time. We are undoubtably headed in the right direction. We played Georgia to a one score game at night in Athens late into the fourth quarter, are they not elite? I would even say we overachieved this year when you actually look at what we put on the field at o line, safety, and other positions. Nico's first year in the SEC as well. BTW buddy just won the most games in a season by a freshman QB IN TENNESSEE HISTORY. Beating your two most hated rivals at the moment (or at least mines) Alabama and Florida. THE SKY IS NOT FALLING I PROMISE

 

[Mtnvol80]

Vandy beat Bama are they elite? Ole Miss boat raced Georgia are they elite? Michigan beat Ohio at Ohio are they elite? South Carolina beat more top 25 than us are they elite? Singling out games is stupid

 

[GAV4L]

Vandy beat Bama are they elite? Ole Miss boat raced Georgia are they elite? Michigan beat Ohio at Ohio are they elite? South Carolina beat more top 25 than us are they elite? Singling out games is stupid

Georgia is elite.

Bama is not.

 

[Go47]

Decent comparison I suppose. But I think they are more talented this year - UT did not have a player on offense (in my opinion) as talented as Warren or on defense as talented as Carter. Maybe Sampson and Pearce? Without Sampson, UT may have been 8-4 / 7-5.

 

[wmcovol]

Good program that will win 9-10 games a year but can't beat the elite programs in big games?

I’m sorry but I thought a program that’s won 6 NCs in the last 15 years was an elite program. Somebody help me with the definition

 

[GAV4L]

I’m sorry but I thought a program that’s won 6 NCs in the last 15 years was an elite program. Somebody help me with the definition

Saban retired and was losing his fastball in the NIL era.

They are not in the elite at the moment, but a hair below it.

Oregon, Ohio State, UGA, Texas are the big 4 elite programs.

 

[wmcovol]

Saban retired and was losing his fastball in the NIL era.

They are not in the elite at the moment, but a hair below it.

Oregon, Ohio State, UGA, Texas are the big 4 elite programs.

So I guess the 2022 win don’t count either

 

[Smokymtnbullet]

Nobody that I know of never molested boys at UT and if they did hang em high but hasn’t Penn State under Franklin been playing without sanctions? Let’s make it an even playing field before we start comparing the Vols to little boy U.

 

[GAV4L]

So I guess the 2022 win don’t count either

That Bama team didn't even make the SEC title game nor the playoffs since Saban was losing his fast ball and that's why he retired the following year

 

[wmcovol]

That Bama team didn't even make the SEC title game nor the playoffs since Saban was losing his fast ball and that's why he retired the following year

They lost 2 games on the last play of the game, easily one of the 3 best teams in the country & had 2 of the top 3 picks in the NFL draft. Yes, they were an elite team.

 

[vavolfan6]

No Penn State would be what Oklahoma was this year in the SEC. The SEC's middle and bottom tier is much better than the BIG 10s, so it's a much different schedule dynamic. We don't have it easy, like Penn State. We actually beat Bama. We have to play tough road night games. Penn State coasts the whole season again terrible competition.

 

[Mtnvol80]

I think it is a fair comparison. We are close but not quite. Talented enough to challenge and at times be more than good but not quite consistently elite either. I would say you could take OSU, UGA, and Texas out and play a tournament with ten to twelve teams and we are all so similar that it’s crazy. PSU, Indiana, Us, Ole Miss, Boise, SMU, ASU, Alabama, ND, I think Oregon, Miami, and Clemson are just too flawed to overcome the talent disparity right now but are all really good.

It's like nobody researches before posting. Here's the teams with the most talent and this year's recruiting rankings. Bama is in a transition year and still finished 2nd. Florida finally found a QB and are killing it in recruiting and the portal. LSU crushed the portal with big time receivers. Kelly, Deboer and Napier have the talent but let's see what they do. Deboer worries me more than the other 2 just cause he's won everywhere he's went but everywhere isn't the SEC. Georgia is Georgia as usual. We finished 8th in recruiting in the SEC.

 

[loosecannon]

It's like nobody researches before posting. Here's the teams with the most talent and this year's recruiting rankings. Bama is in a transition year and still finished 2nd. Florida finally found a QB and are killing it in recruiting and the portal. LSU crushed the portal with big time receivers. Kelly, Deboer and Napier have the talent but let's see what they do. Deboer worries me more than the other 2 just cause he's won everywhere he's went but everywhere isn't the SEC. Georgia is Georgia as usual. We finished 8th in recruiting in the SEC.

Only six of the sixteen on the graphic made the playoffs and 7/16 lost at least four games this year. All that graphic says is that recruiting is important but not the end all and is a bunch of conjecture. It shows that coaching matters. Look at LSU and TAM and USC: always highly ranked in recruiting but have zero to show for it. Their record to blue chip ratios are pathetic. Miami is always hype city with no production. UF is a mess but I think Napier can kinda coach offense. Kelly is a fraud who is wasting one of the best recruiting grounds in the country. OU on that list. Lol. USC is going to fire their guy in the next season or two.

Texas UGA and OSU have talent and execution that the others do not match. The next group, which we are in is in one of three places: good coaching and good players and performs pretty good, great coaching and okay players and performs pretty good, or great players and okay coaching and performs pretty good. None of those three combos will win a NC but they will get you in the top ten. That was my point. Sorry if I didn’t make that as clear as I would have liked. Trying to not write novellas in here.

 

[Zues1]

Are we the Penn State of the SEC? No.
PS is in the elite eight. Ranked the #8 seed.
They are one win away from the final four.
So no we're not PS.
Gotta love the ole " if they were in the SEC"

I hate PSU and old Jimmy, but here we are

 

[Vol8188]

Things aren’t crumbling. Our program hasn’t peaked. Our program isn’t regressing.

The reality is that every time you add a win, things get exponentially harder to add the next win.

If you hypothetically start at 4-8, it’s not as hard to go from 4-8 to 6-6 as it is to go from 10-2 to 12-0.

There’s false expectation here of linear growth and then we panic and lose our minds when that doesn’t occur. “We’ve won 10 before! Why didn’t we win 11! Where is the linear growth I demand! Clearly we are stagnant! We are Penn State!”

When the reality is it takes a lot to go from 10 to 11 or 12 wins.

 

[Vol8188]

Are we the Penn State of the SEC? No.
PS is in the elite eight. Ranked the #8 seed.
They are one win away from the final four.
So no we're not PS.
Gotta love the ole " if they were in the SEC"

I hate PSU and old Jimmy, but here we are

That’s a lazy argument. Penn was ranked only slightly above use in the CFB. Because of a crappy system they have an insanely easy path.