The lists almost never have Tennessee coaches. I wonder why?

I think Bama actually went out of their way to NOT embarrass Ohio State. I am certainly no Bama fan, but I honestly believe Alabama would have won with their 2nd and 3rd string. They have simply out recruited and out coached the rest of the nation. (except Clemson most years and including Clemson this year). Obviously, the Ohio State coach is going to say, "there is not much of a gap" but that does not change the fact that there is a HUGE gap. That said, I was impressed with Ohio State--they were better than previous OSU teams that completely laid an egg and likely were the 2nd best team in the country. (Getting beat by a much better team is not "laying an egg" like they have done in the recent past.)

@sds1967 Tennessee has hired 2 coaches from the Saban tree (Dooley and Pruitt) and the other 2 joined it (Kiffin and Butch Jones). Does not guarantee success!

Well, Auburn is also not in the same Universe as Pinson Valley High School but that did not hurt Bo Nix?

Just for the record, a $750k bonus is more money. A lot more money. People win less when they win medium sized lotteries.

Sounds to me like they did not get their first choices and are choosing to wait a year and take more time to find the right guy. I think USC is doing the same thing by keeping their coach on for another year. Not likely great for next year, but better than getting into the situation that Tennessee found itself in by hiring 23rd choice Derrick Dooley and 18th Choice Butch Jones. 1 year waiting may save 10 years of bad football. Just sayin. Ask me how I know?

I am certainly not an Alabama fan, but if Tua were my son--I would advise him to go pro. Returning would be all downside with the only upside being slightly more money. Most non-pro athletes will not make as much in a lifetime as he will make the day he signs his contract. Don't risk that.

I would advise my son to go in the draft. The good news is that every NFL team will know that he will likely not play in 2020. More than likely he will be drafted by a team that does not need a quarterback right away, allowing him to heal and learn before being tossed on the field. Many potentially great quarterbacks have been ruined by going to bad teams (Tim Couch comes to mind) and Tua will likely avoid that. If he is drafted and makes a full recovery, he will likely lose little total earning power by going early. If his recovery does not go as planned, he can still bank his signing bonus and whatever he is paid as a 1st round pick. First round quarterbacks have guarantees for 4 years, btw so he will still be a rich man (if he goes in the 1st round and spends his money wisely). If he goes back to Alabama, and fails, he will likely not be drafted in the first round and lose guaranteed money. He could theoretically lose his insurance money since he played again and was not totally disabled as a result of his injury. I say take the NFL money asap--it may not be there next year.

I don't know you well @junkerjorge but did you see Tennessee last year and the first of this year with Butch's players? Apparenly he can coach "Champions of Life" and develop "5 star heart" by teaching with "Leadership reps" in practice--but as far as coaching an actual team on the field, he nearly put Tennessee in an unrecoverable tail spin!

Any chance we can get a "W" next to those bye weeks? At least go 1-1?

He missed the opportunity to say, "He is a MAN. 29 years old"

Unlike most Alabama fans, Hurts is difficult to dislike. Much respect and I wish him great success wherever he lands.

Very classy replies from most of the Non-Tennessee SEC fans. Thank you for not kicking us at our lowest point. A few more like this and we MAY be back soon!

Notice Butch Jones is NOT on the list.

I am no LSU fan (I don't DISLIKE them, though) but that is a pretty tall 1 game prerequisite? Beat the #1 team, who DESTROYED the committee's #4 team? I do dislike Alabama,and I hope LSU kills them, but that is a pretty unfair requirement, is it not?

If the money were right (and it IS), ANY team could easily be elevated to P5 status. The key is getting the money right, and to do that you need to add TV subscribers--not NOT viewers but subscribers. SEC network makes around $2.50 per viewer for schools in the SEC footprint. If you live in an SEC state and have cable or satellite, you are paying it. It does not matter to the bottom line if no one there is watching, that stat is worthless--it only matters who is BUYING it, and unless the rules change nationally, you cannot opt in or out of individual stations--they are sold in a package. If the FCC changes the rules (and they are clamoring about it), this metric would change, If they were to change the rules, then a team with a HUGE loyal following would bring in more subscribers (then think Clemson and Fla State). For now, those teams would add ZERO subscribers to the SEC play, Clemson fans are paying the SEC already.

I agree in principle, but the issue is that the preseason rankings have a DIRECT effect on the in-season rankings. A team that starts higher and loses mid season has a higher ranking than a team that starts lower and loses a game. I do agree that the rankings USUALLY take care of themselves, but not always.

@mythic514--see my comment below. The SEC allows each member school to veto any in state school from joining the conference. Although I am a UT fan, it is not a stretch to say that there is NO WAY UT would allow Memphis to join. Also there is no way that Ole Miss or Miss state would vote for that, And especially not Arkansas (I bet Memphis is Arkansas biggest TV market). And probably not Alabama. It is all about money. Ill bet 90% of the people in Memphis are ALREADY watching SEC football on a given Saturday and the SEC would not add ANY (zero) revenue by adding Memphis. This is not some (I hate Memphis rant or that Memphis is not "good enough", it is simply a fact that Memphis is already an SEC city and adding them would not increase the REAL revenue of the SEC, which is TV viewers. Same with Fla St, same with Clemson, same with Texas. Texas made a CRITICAL mistake when they turned down the SEC and is now relegated to Red headed step child of A&M.

For those of you who do not know this (it was not said in the articles)--the SEC has a one vote in-state veto rule. NO WAY any Texas schools or Florida Schools join the SEC (unless A&M or Florida agrees--and they would be FOOLS to do that). No WAY SC lets Clemson join. Maybe Oklahoma or UNC, but the ACC schools do not want to mess up Basketball, and Oklahoma is not a big market. Money is the key to expansion and adding BIG TV markets is the key (why did the BIG Ten add Rutgers?--because a tiny bit of The NYC market is bigger than the whole state of Mississippi). Think TV markets, on a weekly basis, in states that do not have an SEC school and you will find your next candidate. I am guessing it is the DC market. But Charlotte is probably the biggest TV market in the South that does not have an SEC school in that state. The key is cable viewers per week that will pay extra for the SEC network.

Just for the record, Vanderbilt's sole #1, Bill Wade, died last week.

as a lifelong Tennessee football fan, proud alumnus, and frequent taligater for the past 30+ years, I can honestly say that I do not recall anyone, ever, serving a sloppy joe at a UT football game. I am sure it has happened, and I certainly have no disdain for the wonderful combination of ground beef and what amounts to ketchup, especially if topped with pickles, but I have never personally--in dozens (hundreds?) of tailgates. IN addition, I am very unclear if they serve hamburgers AT ALL inside the stadium? I am sure they do, I just dont remember it and certainly would not call it the stadium food of choice for a game?