Let’s take a look at how the rest of the season might play out. Heading into week nine of the college season, Tennessee team looks bowl bound for 2009. What bowl and how significant the date depends on how this team finishes.
They will be the favorite in all but one. That game will be on the road against Ole Miss. At 3-4, the Vols have a huge game Saturday against South Carolina. It’s at home and their favored by 6.
A side note on the lines for Tennessee games this season. They have been wildly off. The WKU was off by +25, UCLA -15, Florida -20, Ohio -11, Auburn -6, Georgia +27, Alabama -12. So honestly, that -6 means very little, if anything. Tennessee Betting Lines and Results
Scenarios
This game gets Lane & Co. back to .500 and sets the tone for future games and recruiting against Spurrier. With a win, the Vols will go into the Memphis game heavily favored. They will look to show a more tenacious performance than in their last double digit favored game, namely Ohio.
A loss here would NOT be a good thing. It would put the Big Orange at 3-5. This would make 6-6 look ever possible. While bowl eligible, the ‘mo’ would have taken a hit.
So let’s say Tennessee wins Saturday to get to 4-4. Beats Memphis (5-4), and heads to Oxford. The line will be small. This is the biggest roadblock remaining to 8-4. If we call it a win in a tough, close game Tennessee sits 6-4.
Vanderbilt at home and Tennessee looks to drill them into the ground (7-4). That leaves Kentucky. This one will be tougher than expected. But the momentum of Tennessee will carry the day and that gets Tennessee to 8-4.
Bowls
Really there is still much up in the air, so who knows for sure. But being college football fans, that part of the allure. All the Conjecture and speculation and we love it. Especially surrounded by as much enthusiasm and optimism as the Tennessee program has going right now.
ESPN Bowl Projections
CBSSports Bowl Projections
SI.com Bowl Predictions
Sporting News Bowl Predictions
A chance to play in a New Years Day Bowl is still on the table. To be in the mix, Tennessee must win out. That begins Saturday.
What is very exciting is that with a bowl win, the Vols could end up 9-4. That would be a six game win streak which hasn’t been done since 2003. That streak began with a 51-43, five overtime win in Tuscaloosa.
This team is still seeking its first back to back wins.
Maybe it’s asking too much of the Vols to pull off six straight at this point. Without a doubt, the expectation is there. Yet it seems that this coaching staff and recently this team would have it no other way.
If Tennessee can run the table, the likely bowl destination will be in Tampa at the Outback Bowl or in Atlanta at the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.
Recruiting
With the 2010 recruiting class bordering on outstanding, every bit of momentum and success is needed to build for the future. 2010 Recruiting Class Rankings
Notice too, how close the top SEC schools are. That’s five teams in the top eight in the country at this point. This is subject to some movement over next 98 days until NSD (February 03, 2010; Plus a number of early enrollments). Buts it’s a pretty good approximation of where things will end up.
Only in the SEC can you beat out 115 teams in recruiting and finish third in your own conference. And there are still people who will argue that the SEC isn’t all that.
With the talent Tennessee is currently courting, they can crack the top 5, perhaps the top 3 in this class. Names like Elam, Green, James, Luc, Riley, Stone and Wright may very well join in with a ‘host of Volunteers’ already committed. Helping the Big Orange take Vol fans on a ride to the pinnacle of college football.