Tennessee Football Will Be A Factor In The SEC In 2016

By Geoffrey Knox

It seems like it has been forever since the Tennessee Volunteers have been consistently relevant in the mighty SEC, but the citizens of Knoxville are in for a surprise. The traditional powers of the Eastern Division have been up and down lately, but we may have seen enough to know who might be making some noise as the 2016 season approaches.

The Volunteers lost four games last year by a grand total of 17 points. Truthfully, their matchups against the Florida Gators and the Arkansas Razorbacks could have gone either way, but two games on last year’s schedule really stand out.

We can all agree that, last year, both the Oklahoma Sooners and Alabama Crimson Tide were better teams. The word “dogfight” doesn’t quite describe the games with those teams last year, but it’s close. When the final gun went off in both contests, the better teams won, but they both knew that they had been in a serious football game and could have easily come up on the losing end. Fans of the guys in orange have been waiting to hear this for a while, but now it can truly be said. Volunteer football is back.

They’ll get Alabama again this year just like they do every year. They’ll get a chance to avenge that loss to the Gators, but this time, they’ll face them at home. The Georgia Bulldogs have a new coach and came up on the losing end in Knoxville last year, but they’ll definitely have their say in how things turn out in the SEC East this year.

The Volunteers’ 2016 recruiting class ranks below all of the teams in their conference that were just mentioned, but Butch Jones is the right man for the job. Don’t be surprised if a bunch of people in orange are making their way to Atlanta come December.

Share On FacebookShare StumbleUpon

You May Also Like