Re: Inside the Failing of Tennessee Program Under Butch Jones
What's worse for Tennessee, I wonder: losers of 10 straight to Alabama, or losers of three out of five to Vanderbilt?
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I did a little research, and now think it must be the latter. Tennessee fans hate Vanderbilt the way we would hate Auburn if Auburn were a selective, private school in Birmingham with predominantly out-of-state students who cheered, "That's alright; that's okay; your gonna work for us someday" near the end of a more or less perennial football loss to us. Traditionally, Tennessee fans have used their football dominance over Vanderbilt to soothe their academic, demographic, and orthodontic inferiority complex; but in the last five years, the Vols have played football on par with Vanderbilt and better than only UK. Let these stats sink in awhile:
SEC East teams whose five-year records versus Vanderbilt are:
Worse than Tennessee's (1-4 or 0-5) - Crickets.
Same as Tennessee's (2-3) - UK.
Better than Tennessee's (3-2 or better) - UGa, Mizzou (3-2); UF (4-1); USCe (5-0).
SEC Wins 2012-2016 (Most to fewest):
27 - UF, UGa
19 - (Mizzou, USCe)
15 - UT
14 - Vanderbilt
8 - UK
Sure, they're 0-10 versus Alabama, but they can console themselves with history - three times in my lifetime so far, Alabama has had substantial streaks (six or more in a row without a loss) versus Tennessee. When each ended, the Vols went on at least a four game winning streak of their own. Vol fans can hope Saban retires, that we subsequently go into a slump, and they knock out four or more wins in a row, as has happened before.
There is no modern precedent for Tennessee's losing 3 out of 5 to Vanderbilt. The last time they failed to win at least three of five was 1925-1929, when they went 2-2-1, and that streak included the first four years of Neyland's tenure and a 2-1-1 record. Their current 2-3 span includes not only two losses to James Franklin on the front end, but a double-digit loss last season to Derek Mason's team that subsequently got pasted by perennial ACC powerhouse NC State.
Sure, it's always darkest before the dawn. I just don't know that Vol fans can have any confidence that dawn is approaching.