Tennessee got a kiss for once yesterday. It's nice to hear some good news for a change! EVERYBODY inside Tennessee's athletic department believed they were ticketed for the Liberty Bowl or perhaps Charlotte. Then politics and commerce intervened and the Vols came out in a sweeter spot with a lesser opponent. If it would've been the Liberty Bowl, Tennessee would've seen a much more talented (than Iowa) WVU team. The game in Charlotte would've been nice for the opponent. Still, it's tough to beat a Friday, January 2nd game that will kick a 3:15 on ESPN. The Gator Bowl is one of 4 Jan 2nd games that will all air unopposed. Pretty sweet spot if you ask me. Can't beat the place and opponent for a team coming off a 6-6 year.
For all that's wrong with college football, the new process of having the league's decide who goes to the second tier bowls makes sense. Tennessee got above it's raisin' this year simply because they are a more attractive team than Georgia (who went to Jacksonville last year). Tennessee was also aided by A&M proximity and the fact that they wanted zero part of Texas in the Texas Bowl. We'll take it! Tennessee has a golden opportunity to finish off this season with a winning record. Since it officially takes place in 2015, I'm turning the page on Butch Jones and ratcheting up the expectations for this game. It's time to win here. We should expect the Vols to win this game. It's not too much to ask.
Patrick Brown in of Chattanooga Times Free Press is tipping his cap to Dave Hart on this one. Great reporting here.
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You look at Iowa's body of work and they look blah. This is a perfect opponent for UT. Not tremendously talented. Not very good at times on defense. Not tremendously fast. Pretty underwhelming for a 7-5 football team.
Reed Carringer of rockytopinsider.com offers this nugget to make you feel great about UT's fortuitous matchup in the Gator Bowl. 'Iowa struggled with mobile QBs this year. They faced 4 QBs in conf than rushed for over 400 yards on the season and lost to all of them.'
Daniel Lewis joins to discuss this.
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I don't know what to think about this Joe DiPietro video. I guess one good thing is that we know he's alive. Then again, do we have a time stamp on that video. I guess he could be 'happy' about just about anything at any time. Think about it Al Queada is still pretending that Bin Laden is still alive.
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On Butch Jones: He gets his raise but Tennessee also got some teeth thrown into his buyout on the back end. I'll give this to Dave Hart, Santa Claus he is not. So, Jones gets a hike in pay and it becomes tougher for someone to pry him away.
On playoff. You just knew what was coming when ESPN's commentators in virtual lockstep took it upon themselves to jump Ohio State over TCU/Baylor late Saturday night. All of a sudden, TCU went from 3rd to out. And we're told those standings aren't standings at all. So, what exactly is the point of having a TV show based on the standings for the final 6 weeks of the season? It's moronic. ESPN willed Ohio State into playoff. TCU and Baylor were left out because they weren't Texas. Do you think ESPN would've done this to one of their 'partners'. ESPN runs the Longhorn Network. This was Peyton Manning and Charles Woodson all over again. When the bloc decides it's going to move on you, there's not much you can do about it.
I found it troubling that Herbie essentially laid in wait and all of the sudden it became about winning a conference championship game. With the Big 12 not having a conference title game, this was going to be used against them the entire time. What a screw job this was. Look, Ohio State has a really nice team but what happened to TCU/Baylor was politics. It shows the power of what I was warning you about since this process of 'selecting' teams was announced. When you put politicos in a room, you get this. How can TCU go from 3 to out after beating the living hell out of somebody? That makes zero sense in anybody's world. And Herbie and ESPN should be ashamed of themselves for screwing those kids like that. Bottom line if TCU had Texas on their helmets and a Longhorn emblem, they would be #3 or #4 today. For Urban Meyer, he's going to be back in the hospital after watching some video of Bama. Isn't it ironic? Meyer ran like a little girl from the SEC and he's going to square off with the biggest and best on the ultimate national stage in the first ever NCAA Football Playoff. I'm going to pop me a big bowl of popcorn and cheer like crazy for Alabama. What is this world coming to?
Art Briles. 'Committee needs more people associated with the South.'
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Great win for basketball Vols Saturday. That Kansas State team should be in the NCAA Tournament at years end. Time will view that as a nice win for this Tennessee team. One thing about Donnie Tyndall's guys is that you won't play harder than them. It looks as if Woodson's time at Tennessee is quickly drawing to a close unless he changes pretty quickly. Woodson unfortunately been pretty disruptive behind the scenes according to several sources close to the hoops program. Tyndall's line about him missing for classwork was part of the story but not the whole story. An already thin offensive line may get thinner still.
Bowl season is replete with quality matchups.
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Classy move by Bruce Arians in honoring Eric Berry.
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Zach Mettenberger is out for the season. Nobody should have to play behind that offensive line. The Titans are the dregs of the NFL. Sheesh.
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How about Houston? They fired a coach that went 7-5 this year. Tough crowd.
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Well....This is fun.
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T Mail Time:
'Sorry, I still like calling it the Gator Bowl.
Since I live in South Georgia now, I'll be looking for tickets. It's only a couple of hours away. Provided that the ticketmaster site isn't completely hosed like it was last night.
Okay, Checker Jax anyone? Just curious.
Yes, Ohio State destroyed Wisconsin 59-0. The very first thought that went through my head after seeing the CFP committee pushed them up and over TCU? Ohio State is regal and your team isn't. OSU has floundered around 5 or 6 all season long with no indication that they might be playoff worthy. But at the last second, suddenly they are. Wow. You just knew that Honest Jim Delaney's conference wouldn't be left without a seat in the playoff. And how appropriate that they should beat Wisconsin to get there.
The Badgers late game collapse against LSU left them with a loss that would keep them out of the playoff picture. Why, many at the time wondered if the Big Ten would even have a playoff team. Of course they will. They have the money and the political influence of Delaney and Urban Meyer. They just couldn't resist the lure of a month's buildup to a Saban/Meyer rematch for a shot at the national title. We now return you to your regularly scheduled college football cartel.
I get the feeling that the committee meeting could be like watching Survivor where you have different factions and alliances that sprout up and play out.
The Big XII didn't do themselves any favors with this co-champions business either. Instead, they might have doomed both teams to be on the outside.
Eric S.'
Mike G in OKC points out that Tennessee has had a long road.
'With the bowl season set, we now know Tennessee (unquestionably) played one of the toughest, if not the most challenging, schedules in the NCAA FBS. If we add Iowa to the list, 10 Vol opponents have bowl selections, and Chattanooga won the Southern Conference Championship with an undefeated 7-0 record and is currently 10-3 overall advancing in the FCS Playoffs.
Only Kentucky and Vanderbilt failed to get bowl bids, and Kentucky missed by one game (in fact, they led bowl bound Louisville with less than 3:00 minutes to play and had a victory over Florida sabotaged by incompetent officiating concerning play clock expiration).
Congratulations to the Vols! They deserve the (I'll say it) Gator Bowl!!!
Bleed Orange,
Mike G. in OKC'
When I saw Tennessee was heading to something called the 'Taxslayer Bowl' the first person I thought about was Al Sharpton. The ultimate tax slayer.
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34 years ago tonight John Lennon was shot outside the Dakota in NYCNY. Who knows how much wonderful art Lennon would've made? Think about it.
Give this a retweet today. Push this out there.
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Peace
Tony