Re: The fact that we would've done a whole lot better if we'd missed rather than played in the last SECCG
That's obviously true, but, then, it's only true because we played like our lives depended on proving that chimps and humans share over 98% identical genetic material (we sucked).
This year, the stakes are probably even higher- to make the SECCG we have to beat out a fantastic Georgia squad and our reward is likely to be an LSU team with fewer stars but that's more all-around good. At best, we may get to have a Manning Memorial Game, against an Eli-led Ole Miss that's just as hard to take seriously and is just as deadly as the 'Archie Who?' team that whupped our butts in '69.
That said, no conference championship, much less conference championship game, is going to mean more than the SEC's this year. Maybe I just don't have the proper respect for the lower-rent (cough) BCS bowl games, but I'd rather see the Vols play for the top and lose big than sneak up somebody's back door. Especially since TN's biggest problems this season have been mental rather than a matter of talent, and I'm not ready to give up on them to the point of deciding that our best chance is to sneak into the BCS-lite as an also-ran.