The most important work this season is already done: the Vols are back in the championship chase, and would be preparing for round one as we speak in a 12-team playoff, soon to become the clear answer to a season’s success. A job well done earns additional rewards: this team […]
Author: Will Shelton
In Early Pursuit of a #1 Seed
The web browser marks the changing seasons: my most-visited sites were once SP+ and SportSource Analytics, and most recently every bowl projection I can find, to try to understand this Rose Bowl madness. But already, winter’s champions emerge once more: KenPom, the Bracket Matrix, and Bart Torvik. In KenPom, the […]
To Where You Once Belonged
When Tennessee beat LSU, we wrote this about the week to come: You can think whatever you want about “back”; that’s a question we already learned we can’t really even answer until the entire story of this season has been written. This team has skipped so many steps in this […]
First Atlantis, Then The World
Over at Bart Torvik’s predictive bracketology, the Vols would be well acquainted with their current neighbors on the one line: Texas, first in KenPom and second in defensive efficiency, comes to Thompson-Boling Arena on January 28 Tennessee, third in KenPom and first in defensive efficiency Arizona, ninth in KenPom and […]
Tennessee at Vanderbilt Preview: Tying It All Together
This week, our community gives the Vols a 72.1% chance of victory at Vanderbilt. Some of that is the Dores, for sure: even coming off the Georgia loss, fans gave the Vols a 94.1% chance against Vandy two weeks ago. The rest of it, of course, is Tennessee. The 72.1% […]
First Steps in Atlantis
The last time the Vols went to Atlantis, Rick Barnes’ program entered the national conversation during one of the most tumultuous weeks for the entire athletic department. This weekend will mark five years since Schiano Sunday, coming at the end of the program’s only 4-8 football season in history. The […]
Expected Win Totals: How confident are we at Vanderbilt?
Even after losing to Georgia, last week marked the second-highest confidence level of the season overall. After blowing out Missouri, fans were even more confident the Vols would get to 11 wins than we were coming out of the Alabama game. It did not go that way, of course, but […]
South Carolina 63 Tennessee 38 – A Bewildering Night
A season that has surprised us all saved another one for tonight. And this time, unfortunately, it was not the fun kind. These things always need the full season to find their proper place, as much as the moment may invite us to do otherwise each week. This post will […]
Historical Precedent for One-Loss Teams in the Playoff
The Vols remained at #5 in the College Football Playoff poll this week after two overtimes and many of our bedtimes. Shout out to Michigan State, giving the Vols an early transitive scrimmage win over Kentucky in basketball. The top four speak for themselves, all undefeated at 10-0. LSU trails […]
Expected Win Totals, Basketball, & AP Top 5 History at UT
We’ve reached the final two games of the regular season, which means our boundaries are pretty clearly defined in expected wins. That’s usually true for Tennessee when we close the season with Vanderbilt; it’s especially true for this Tennessee team, playing with an inevitability they’ll take on the road to […]