Greetings football fans! C.C. Edwards here to share observations from a long-time Vols fan and college football follower. I am delighted to join with you and the many who believe it is always FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!
As we launch a new season of college football, I see the many forecasts of pigskin prognosticators and am reminded how annoying the talking heads and twinkling cymbals can be. Even though these professionals have a basket full of new analytics tools and computer models to hone their insights, it appears the traditional Top 25 remain the Top 25. With conference realignment, transfer portals, NIL agreements, agents representing college (and high school) players, a 12-team playoff to crown a major college football national champion, and the college football season kicking off in Dublin, Ireland, it seems the more things change the more they stay the same.
In the SEC, almost all “experts” pick Georgia to win the conference crown. For example, in the August 22, 2024, edition of The Athletic, Austin Mock gives Georgia a 38.5% chance of winning the SEC with a projected 10-win regular season. Next on Mock’s forecast is SEC newcomer Texas with a 20% chance at the conference championship and a forecasted 9.5-win season. LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss, Missouri, and Texas A&M precede the Vols in Mock’s forecast of SEC winners.
UT’s eighth place ranking in the sixteen-team league sure seems to undervalue the Vols while inflating the power of the former SEC West (oh yeah, no more divisions in the SEC this year!), but that is not a new condition. In my over 50 years of Vol fandom, the one constant I have experienced is trying to forecast a UT football season is much like forecasting weather in Tennessee; you know there will be some and it is sometimes extreme, but you can be sure it usually will not turn out as you expected! Long-time Vol fans know that when Tennessee was highly ranked and much expected, they rarely met lofty expectations. Conversely, when little was expected of UT, often they exceeded expectations. I am hopeful the middling expectations for the 2024 Vols will result in higher outcomes for the team.
As I consider the 2024 Vols schedule, I am more optimistic than Austin Mock’s 8.3-win forecast. As I see the schedule, a 9-win season seems likely and an away game between the hedges in Athens, Georgia is an extreme challenge. It will be interesting to see how the Vols perform against ACC foe North Carolina State and how they measure up on the road against Oklahoma and Arkansas. Hosting Florida and Alabama this year should keep Neyland Stadium rocking and Rocky Top blaring! In short, Coach Heupel and his Vols have a great chance to shock the “experts,” confound the computer models, and remind us that the more things change, the more they stay the same! UT football is tough to predict and fun to follow. Let’s enjoy the 2024 season because IT’S FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!