I guess since we are no longer capable of being considered rivals of the Gators, just ask Dave, the South Alabama team should not be considered a cream puff for Tennessee. Dave's attitude is going to make the future Tennessee vs Florida games very enjoyable for me once Tennessee turns the corner. South Alabama just played Western Kentucky at home just like we played them at home. Their game wound up 31 - 24 victory for South Alabama. Our game, the previous week, was a 52 - 20 win for the Vols. Game to game comparisons don't always mean anything but it is all I have to go on. We beat them by 32 points while they beat them by 7... 25 point difference and the spread is set at 20. The big unknown is: Who will start at QB for the Vols? How will that guy react to a lesser defense? The Vols must win this one and cover the spread to show that they are getting better. Not expecting miracles at this point but progress is not too much to ask.
Don't get me wrong.....it's still a rivalry but with the stakes so low compared to what they once were it pales by comparison. The winner used to be the odds on favorite for the SEC Title. Now.... not so much.
No, you're clearly mentioning this without any sense of humbleness and in an attempt to slight Tennessee. They're in rebuilding mode. They knew that. You're still talking NCs right up to getting beat by the Canes. So back on topic though, USA is an interesting program. If they can ever find a way to keep those Mobile kids home.. they'd really be something.
Funny Corey..... I say the winner of UT-UF used to be the favorite for the SEC Crown and your tea leaves tell you I said something completely different. "Now.... not so much".... and I was speaking of the winner of the game with that statement which sounds pretty humble to me. Well..... that "winner" has been Florida the past 9 years and we haven't sniffed Atlanta since 2008. I believe in a post a couple of days ago I predicted a 9-3 record for UF and I definitely never felt good enough about this Florida team before the season to predict anything close to an NC. But go ahead.... yeah I'm bragging about how UF is going to win the SEC :lol:
As usual, a Tennessee topic, or any topic for that matter gets turned into a Florida topic. So be it. I'll change the topic title for you Dave
Your first paragraph in the S. Alabama-Tenn topic that you started. Might have been more appropriate if you commented in the other topic where I commented....but you chose to do this instead. Seriously.... without being personally affronted do you think the rivalry is what it once was? Gatorsports had an article pretty much along these same lines last week and it seemed like a rational argument to me. Certainly the winner of the game does not carry forward as the SEC favorite as in years past..... so the game in Sept. was huge to the outcome of the SEC East.... if not the SEC itself in those days. Maybe you feel it still has the same stakes..... I don't.
MCG, This is like the discussions you and I have had about Alabama and Florida. A few years ago the Alabama/Florida game was the biggest game of the season. It had national implications. #1 vs #2 etc. But it was not a rivalry game, at least for Alabama. Alabama has 2 real rivalry games. Auburn is and always will be #1 and Tennessee. LSU is close but not quite at the level of the other two. Their won/loss record has nothing to do with it. For Auburn it sets the tone for so much our social lives for the following year and for Tennessee, it is just so much history. I contend, if it is a rivalry, team records mean nothing. If team records are important, then the game is not a rivalry.
Well said, kp. Your description applies to many traditional rivalries as contrasted with games between teams with good records. Your description fits our series with Michigan. For me at least, it always is a big game, but it's never been a traditional rivalry for ND. Just my opinion.
WOW. Tom just "Gator'ed" the subject and real football talk broke out. I'll fix all that. UCF is making a claim for the #3 spot... maybe #2
Kp, I always viewed the Bama-UF match-ups as pretty much the same you do. Back in the day it could be a huge game... and hopefully again soon.... a UF-Bama game will be a very important game in the SEC. Bama and Florida have played each other in the SEC Title game more than any other two schools by far. But definitely the two are not rivals per se. Tenn-UF is more like UA vs. LSU than it is UF-Ga or UA-Tenn. The UF-Tenn rivalry as it is has only been in existence since the SEC split into two divisions.