In his latest article, Program Pecking Order, Stewart Mandel put the Vols among the nations elite programs while at the same time took some pretty cutting shots at the Georgia Bulldogs. I can respect that, can’t you?
Mandel was responding to a question from a reader about Georgia’s coach Mark Richt not getting any heat for never having played in a national title game.
‘I noted that the Dawgs are not the sort of “national power” whose fans are entitled to expect national titles. (Their last one came 27 years ago.) My classification of the program as a “regional power” generated a whole bunch of angry e-mails from the Peach State (though there were also quite a few Georgia fans who readily agreed).’
Ouch! Is it not bad enough that Georgia lost to both Vanderbilt and Kentucky last year? No need to rub salt by classifying them as a regional program.
But wait, there is more.
‘And with all due respect to Mark Richt, if we secretly inserted him into a police lineup, how many of them would actually say, “Hey, look, it’s Mark Richt!’
So basically, according to Mandel, Georgia is a regional program with a coach that has no identity. I like it.
So who did make the cut? Mandel went on to list his national powers as: Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Tennessee*, Texas and USC.
Note the asterisks beside Tennessee. He used it to denote that Tennessee was the one program he hesitated on due to our lack of recent success. What put him over the top? Checkerboard endzones and Peyton Manning. Probably not the reasons I would give but hey, at least we’re not Georgia.
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2 responses to “The Vols a National Power?”
Saying we “at least are not Georgia” is a slap at us, not them. The Vols are a National power. When I lived out in California (Long Beach), I saw as many Vol bumper stickers as USC or UCLA. UT has a wide fan base due to our recruiting. We NEEDED Cutcliffe back in all honesty. We need the offensive prowless that he can bring. Sanders was so predictable.
Thanks for the response Randy. My comment, “at least we aren’t Georgia”, was meant just to address more of the fact that Mandell was picking on them and not us. I definitely don’t need this guy to justify our place among the nations elite programs. Our record speaks for itself and leaving us out would have only shown his ignorance, regardless of our lack of recent success. Go Vols.