So where would a win tomorrow rank in TN history?

#58
#58
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
It’s really hard to compare this game to Neyland’s era. This game has real championship implications. The 1939 team you mentioned went undefeated, untied, and unscored upon in the regular season. Back then, national championships were decided after the regular season and before the bowl games. Despite the fact we had won a national championship the year before and then didn’t give up a single point at the time the final votes were cast, we didn’t win a championship. No bowl game played by anyone during Neyland’s entire tenure ever factored into crowning a national champion. You can’t say any one game in Neyland’s tenure is among our biggest ever, because at the end of day, no one game ever decided much.
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Oh yes, you can. In the opinions of Neyland's players, the 1928 Alabama game was the "game that put Tennessee football on the map." Having defeated Washington in the 1926 Rose Bowl and tied Stanford the following year in Pasadena, Alabama was the measuring stick in Southern football. As a harbinger of the called shot in the '32 World Series, Gene McEver predicted that, given the opportunity, he would return the opening kickoff for a touchdown. He did precisely that, and Tennessee beat Wallace Wade and 'bama 15-13.
 
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#61
#61
71VOL said:
When was the last time we we’re even in the running for a NC? Biggest game since 98’!
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2001 loss to LSU in the SEC CG. If we had won, we would have played Miami in the Rose Bowl for the National Championship. They would have beaten us. That Miami team was one of the best ever .... but it would have been great to be there.

There is a perception that Tennessee can't win big road games. There is no time better than tonight to get over that hump with a statement win.
 
#64
#64
Volosaurus rex said:
Oh yes, you can. In the opinions of Neyland's players, the 1928 Alabama game was the "game that put Tennessee football on the map." Having defeated Washington in the 1926 Rose Bowl and tied Stanford the following year in Pasadena, Alabama was the measuring stick in Southern football. As a harbinger of the called shot in the '32 World Series, Gene McEver predicted that, given the opportunity, he would return the opening kickoff for a touchdown. He did precisely that, and Tennessee beat Wallace Wade and 'bama 15-13.
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That had zero bearing on a championship of any sort though. I’m not saying that there were no big games big then or games that were important. I’m saying’s it’s nearly impossible to compare games from that era to later eras because of how different the sport was.
 
#65
#65
The question of this thread is tough to answer. Because we've never been in this situation before.

Always prior, if we were playing for a title, it was in the title game. Win it all, or go home dejected. We've never before been in a place where you have to win a game to get to the game. Or in this case, win 3 games to get to the game.

One could categorically say this game against Ohio State ranks below every title game we've ever been in, including the old bowl games where you're not really playing the team you hope to beat out to get the #1 ranking, instead you (and they) are playing some other team and trying to impress the AP and Coaches poll voters that you're the better one. Remember those days? Heh, seems forever ago now, but it's only about one-third of a human lifetime in our past: 1997.

So this game is less than a title game. But it's more than any bowl game that doesn't involve a title. That puts it pretty high up on the list. Maybe in the top 25 or 30. I mean, how many times have we played with a national or conference championship on the line? Certainly all 4 (or 6, or 2, however you personally count it) national and 16 conference crowns that we won. But several more that we played for but came up short.

For that matter, which ranks higher on our all-time list, an SEC championship match or a playoff game prior to the national title final? Dunno. Contrary to the opinions of a few on these boards, conference titles are still valuable and important to the program (and most of us fans). How does the SEC CG rank against a first-round or quarter-final or semi-final game in the national playoffs? Hard to say. Objectively, it is harder to get into the SEC title game than into the CFP. So one could say Atlanta is more valuable. But hard to say, because each game of the playoffs has an opportunity value for the next round(s) built in. *shrug* Logic gets a little fuzzy in this apples-to-oranges comparison.

~ ~ ~

Then you set all the logic aside and switch to talking emotionally. This is where the '85 Sugar Vols, and '15 Georgia (the Dobb Nail Boot), and '22 Bama ("college football at its absolute finest," as the announcers declared after the game) come in. We can't know how '24 Ohio State will measure against those games emotionally until we've played it.

But one thing is for sure: as a fan base, we have put a lotta skin into this Ohio State game up front. We've made the stakes big. But the bet could still go bust, in which case we'll all just as soon forget about it. It will pale in our collective memories pretty fast (except the nega-Vols, they'll dwell on it for years).

So emotionally, if we win this one, it could be right up there in the top 10 all-time. Even if logically it's lower down, somewhere just inside the top 20 or 25.

That's how I see it, I guess.

Go Vols!
 
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#66
#66
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
That had zero bearing on a championship of any sort though. I’m not saying that there were no big games big then or games that were important. I’m saying’s it’s nearly impossible to compare games from that era to later eras because of how different the sport was.
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I don't agree with this at all.

First, it wasn't THAT different.

And second, people are people. Coaches are coaches, players are players, and fans are fans.

100 years isn't that long ago, you realize when you get into your 60s...70s...80s...90s. Only young people think the world was invented in the last 30 years.

A game for a championship is a game for a championship, in the 1920s or the 2020s. Even if you're not exactly playing in your bowl against the team you're competing for the title with (see previous post).

And a game with great emotional investment is a game with great emotional investment, again whether it took place before we were all born or just this season.

Go Vols!
 
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#67
#67
VFL-82-JP said:
I don't agree with this at all.

First, it wasn't THAT different.

And second, people are people. Coaches are coaches, players are players, and fans are fans.

100 years isn't that long ago, you realize when you get into your 60s...70s...80s...90s. Only young people think the world was invented in the last 30 years.

A game for a championship is a game for a championship, in the 1920s or the 2020s. Even if you're not exactly playing in your bowl against the team you're competing for the title with (see previous post).

And a game with great emotional investment is a game with great emotional investment, again whether it took place before we were all born or just this season.

Go Vols!
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Yeah .... all true. I still think of the '86 Sugar Bowl win over Miami as a big deal, even though, it would be thought of much differently now. You should consider the impact of games from within the moment they were played.
 
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#68
#68
This to me would be on par with Heupel ending the streak vs Bama.

With that said, Heupel ending the winless streak on road vs Top 10 opponents will be a much bigger deal since it’s in the postseason.

For the program, a win means Heupel has officially closed the door on the 15 years of misery.

I thought 2022 was gonna be that year but we fell short with that fluke vs USC and Hooker injury.
 
#69
#69
VFL-82-JP said:
I don't agree with this at all.

First, it wasn't THAT different.

And second, people are people. Coaches are coaches, players are players, and fans are fans.

100 years isn't that long ago, you realize when you get into your 60s...70s...80s...90s. Only young people think the world was invented in the last 30 years.

A game for a championship is a game for a championship, in the 1920s or the 2020s. Even if you're not exactly playing in your bowl against the team you're competing for the title with (see previous post).

And a game with great emotional investment is a game with great emotional investment, again whether it took place before we were all born or just this season.

Go Vols!
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I don’t think the world was invented in the last 30 years. I do know that you could go a whole season without giving up a point and not be crowned a champion in those days. I also know that champions were crowned before bowl games in those days. The landscape was radically different back then and difficult to compare to games with specific championship stakes like we have today. Of course there were big games, but when you’re talking about an era when we went undefeated, untied, and unscored upon and still finished #2 in the AP, even though we spent most of the season ranked #1, you just can’t quantify games back then like you can now.
 
#75
#75
GoVols64 said:
Meh.

Don’t get me wrong, would love the W! BUT. It’s step one. No additional dynasty points for going out in the first round.

Unless you win the Championship, no one will remember you were there.
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lol. This is dumb. If you don’t think the vast majority of TN fans won’t remember we made the playoffs this year then you are insane.
 
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