Who would you consider to be the "worst" team of our current bad season streak?

#53
#53
ntxVOL said:
I was working on a response but it is just too painful.

I am really hoping 10yrs from now we will be calling CBJ our savior.
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My savior is Jesus Christ. I'm hoping to call CBJ the guy who brought UT football back to prominence.
 
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#54
#54
GBO97 said:
My savior is Jesus Christ. I'm hoping to call CBJ the guy who brought UT football back to prominence.
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Really? Savior in this instance was not referring to salvation for our eternal soul. Reference to the Christ would have been indicated by capitalizing "Savior":hi:

noun 1. a person who saves , rescues, or delivers:
 
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#56
#56
In 2011, we lost to KY for the first time in my lifetime. It really doesn't get any worse than that.
 
#58
#58
BennisDrewer said:
If CBJ wins a NC anytime soon, he can obviously perform more amazing miracles...So I'm siding with him.
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I'm with you. I've seen Butch Jones a few times. Jesus...well...I don't know anyone who has actually met this fellow. \m/
 
#59
#59
chatt-townVOL said:
Basically spanning from 2008 to 2013. Which of these teams do you think was the worst one we fielded? Essentially, which one do you think would lose to all the others?

This will probably come as a surprise to most, but I think it was the 2012 team. Even with an absolutely loaded offense, the defense/coaching of that team was bad enough that I think you almost have to say they were the worst. Keep in mind this is not an argument of talent, as the 2012 team was loaded with talent. Just a matter of overall play when you factor in what they did on the field. My reasons why:

-You'd be lying to yourself if you said Akron didn't scare the crap out of you that year. We ended up stomping them, but that game was way too close for way too long.

-Troy...... dear Lord 5-7 Troy......

-Points wise about on par with the other Bama beatings, but on the field felt like the worst Alabama beating of them all. A first down felt like a miracle that game.

-Curb stomped by Vanderbilt.

Ironically IIRC the 2012 team was the only one spanning from '08 to '13 that broke the Top 25. Though it was short lived.
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This is an interesting question...

Ranked by the preceding four years of talent averages the most talented teams would look like this (ranked from most to least talented):

  1. 2012: 12.25 <--ND at 16.25 played in BCS champ
  2. 2014: 13.75 <--Same rank as OU
  3. 2010: 14.25 <--Oregon at 18.75 played in BCS champ
  4. 2013: 14.75
  5. 2008: 16.25
  6. 2011: 16.75
  7. 2009: 17.75

Interesting to note that on at least two occasions during this time UT had recruited better talent than a team playing for the national championship and that this year UT has recruited at a level similar to Oklahoma, who is a pre-season number 1 in some polls.

All of these Tennessee teams (except 2014 which is as yet unknown) have under-performed in the range of -2 to -4 games a year. In fact, Tennessee has consistently been the SEC team with the biggest under-performance during this time period. Florida tends to be a close second.

It appears that the 2009 version of the Vols was the least talented and under-performed by three games (UCLA, Ole Miss, Va Tech). When you factor in a win against a more talented UGA squad, you end with Kiffin under-performing by 2 games with the least talented roster. That team felt more successful because of the energy Kiff brought to Knoxville, the curb stomping of UGA and SCAR, and a bowl appearance. Few people balance those out against a terrible performance against a less talented UCLA, a 42-17 point embarrassment at the hands of less talented Ole Miss, an overtime nail-biter against significantly less talented Kentucky, and a head-scratching loss against less talented Va Tech in a bowl where the Kiffins made Frank Beamer appear to be a genius.

Consider this: Over this span, only two teams have under-performed in relation to talent by two games or less. Those are Kiff's 2009 team, and Jones's 2013 team.

The biggest under performers overall were Dooley's 2012 team (the most talented we have seen in this span) and Fulmer's 2008 team. Both coming in at a -4 game under-performance or more.

It is easy for me to say which team is the most disappointing, that is 2012 thanks to a miraculous effort on Derek Dooley's part. It is hard for me to say which team is actually the "worst." I honestly believe 2009, due to the dearth in talent, and the 2 game under-performance would be the leader in that category, but 2008 and 2011 would be strong contenders.

Similarly, if you want to see the direct correlation between recruiting trends and winning in the SEC, here are two charts that show our win totals to 2012, and our recruiting rankings in relation to the SEC.

recruiting trend.jpg
wins trend.jpg



Ooooh, my 3000th post. Maybe I need to log out awhile?
 
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#60
#60
daj2576 said:
This is an interesting question...

Ranked by the preceding four years of talent averages the most talented teams would look like this (ranked from most to least talented):

  1. 2012: 12.25
  2. 2014: 13.75
  3. 2010: 14.25
  4. 2013: 14.75
  5. 2008: 16.25
  6. 2011: 16.75
  7. 2009: 17.75

All of these teams have under-performed in the range of -2 to -4 games a year. In fact, Tennessee has been consistently (with Florida making a regular appearance on the list) the SEC team with the biggest under-performance during this time period.

It appears that the 2009 version of the Vols was the least talented and under-performed by three games (UCLA, Ole Miss, Va Tech). When you factor in a win against a more talented UGA squad, you end with Kiffin under-performing by 2 games with the least talented roster. That team felt more successful because of the energy Kiff brought to Knoxville, the curb stomping of UGA and SCAR, and a bowl appearance. Few people balance those out against a terrible performance against a less talented UCLA, a 42-17 point embarrassment at the hands of less talented Ole Miss, an overtime nail-biter against significantly less talented Kentucky, and an unexplainable loss against a less talented Va Tech in a bowl where the Kiffins made Frank Beamer appear to be a genius.

Consider this: Over this span, only two teams have under-performed in relation to talent by two games or less. Those are Kiff's 2009 team, and Jones's 2013 team.

The biggest under performers overall were Dooley's 2012 team (the most talented we have seen in this span) and Fulmer's 2008 team. Both coming in at a -4 game under-performance or more.

It is easy for me to say which team is the most disappointing, that is 2012 thanks to a miraculous effort on Derek Dooley's part. It is hard for me to say which team is actually the "worst." I honestly believe 2009, due to the dearth in talent, and the 2 game under-performance would be the leader in that category, but 2008 and 2011 would be strong contenders.

Ooooh, my 3000th post. Maybe I need to log out awhile?
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So, in 2009 we were the least talented, we underperformed by 2 games, and we still won 7.

Which means our schedule has gotten quite a bit stronger since then. Which is why most people were happy last year.

Good analysis. 2012 still has my vote, though.
 
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#61
#61
Why hunt for negatives when we have serious reasons to expect a better season than we've had in these recent times? I got a better question, two actually.

--What will our 2015 recruiting look like on NSD if we win 8+ games this season?
--If we somehow upset Bama this season, will Knoxville survive the celebration?

Why look back when you can look forward? OK, that's three questions.
 
#62
#62
WoodsmanVol said:
Why hunt for negatives when we have serious reasons to expect a better season than we've had in these recent times? I got a better question, two actually.

--What will our 2015 recruiting look like on NSD if we win 8+ games this season?
--If we somehow upset Bama this season, will Knoxville survive the celebration?

Why look back when you can look forward? OK, that's three questions.
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Great post. I was just thinking, as I skimmed through these posts, that this is all in the past. We've hit the bottom, and the only way to go is up.

To answer your other questions:
--If we win 8+ games this season, holy ****ing dog****. On top of VolNation going nuts, recruits are going to swarm to jump on the big orange train. Especially* with us moving over to Nike after this season. Hello Sweat, Gibson, Tuttle...

--Knoxville will survive. This goes back to Darwin's survival of the fittest. There will be much rejoicing and puking in the streets. Goalposts are probably coming down.
 
#67
#67
MrBiggles said:
Which team lost to Kentucky? That one!
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if memory serves, and lost to a Kentucky team without a starting QB, used a Tight End at QB who broke a decades long winning streak we had against them. Probably on a par with losing against North Texas State that sealed Bill Battles fate on The Hill both loses that cause me to lose breakfast when I recall them ... thanks for the upchuck this morning.
 
#68
#68
Remy said:
if memory serves, and lost to a Kentucky team without a starting QB, used a Tight End at QB who broke a decades long winning streak we had against them. Probably on a par with losing against North Texas State that sealed Bill Battles fate on The Hill both loses that cause me to lose breakfast when I recall them ... thanks for the upchuck this morning.
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Yes, but we didn't lose to Kentucky because of who was their qb. We lost because who was our qb that day. Their receiver turned qb only scored 10 points. Our full time qb managed only 7 points.
 
#69
#69
fade route said:
Not so sure about that. Bray, Hunter, and C Patt would have ripped last year's D to shreds, especially without Maggitt.
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Idk, I think even our anemic offense from last season would be able to put up points against Sal's defense.
 
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