Tennessee shouldn't play Georgia every year

[EasternVol]

If Neyland is 50/50 UT and opponent fans does the disruptive influence increase or decrease?

Usually it would be a decrease.

 

[CAVPUT]

And 5 years ago, it was "Tennessee should not play Alabama every year"....do we just rinse and repeat this with whatever team is good?

Yes?

 

[onevol74]

I have never understood playing a soft schedule. I hate the softies we play now. Kids can care less how much you beat Akron or UTC. I think some of our fans would feel better if we moved to the OVC, or Sunbelt.

 

[GAV4L]

We'd be undefeated every season if we never lost any games.

 

[C-south]

This was the most beatable Georgia team in years. Every excuse some people are using for us getting blown out in the playoffs is something Georgia has dealt with all year and won while getting a first round bye. They don’t exactly have the receivers or any scary offensive threat. Their defense is solid but not elite. You can’t say they have a great O-line with the way Beck has been pressured all year…of course except when we play them.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

Your personal enjoyment aside, it is an advantage to play a significant rival at a neutral site every year.
Had Uga played in Gainesville this season , they very well may have lost.

Do you think it would be an advantage to Tennessee to play Alabama every year at Legion Field in Birmingham? That's basically what Georgia does every year with Florida. They travel 350+ miles to play UF at a stadium in Florida that is less than 75 miles from UF's campus.

 

[vavolfan6]

I don't care to make it to the playoffs if we only make it due to having a weak schedule. We only stand to embarass ourselves against good competition like we did this year. I'd rather play the Bamas and Georgia's. Its good to see how we stack up. If we get blown out and miss the playoffs...ohh well. We never deserved it in the first place.

 

[carolinaviking]

Tennessee is the only team in the country that is expected to play both Alabama and Georgia every year. Makes it very hard to make the playoffs, especially since there is always a good chance we have to play one of them again in the SEC championship if we beat them both in the regular season. Than again in the finals.

Tennessee has more rivalries than any other SEC team. Alabama, Florida, Vandy, UK and Georgia. The Georgia one is the least important in my opinion. It didn't even make the list of 20 most important SEC rivalries

SEC football rivalry rankings: Where Texas, Oklahoma feuds stand as Longhorns, Sooners join in 2024 season

Here's how the SEC's historic rivalries stack up with Texas and Oklahoma set to join the fold

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I say, stop playing Georgia every year. Before 2024, its been years since Alabama played Georgia in the regular season. Without Georgia, we could have been undefeated in both 2022 and 2024 (had we not lost to SC/AR).

Sometimes rivalries go away. The Missouri-Oklahoma rivarly was huge in the 90s, they haven't play since 2011 lol.

With Alabama making noise about a less intense schedule, I say let Tennessee do the same.

Ah, the ol' "if you can't beat 'em, run away and hide from them" strategy. That's a winner.

Playing UGA, BAMA, and Florida every year is what makes Tennessee a great team to root for. It wins respect. And while we won't dominate those teams every year, we will have decades when we do. And in the down decades, the wins will be extra special.

I was terribly disappointed when Pat Summitt ended the annual meet-ups with UConn. It was embarrassing. People laughed at us because it confirmed that we weren't good enough to compete with them. We were painted as quitters.

So I disagree.