A community of reasonable fanatics.
If you’ve been following along with us through the years, whether here or at Rocky Top Talk, you probably know that in the real world I’m a United Methodist pastor. And I’m really proud to share a book I wrote in that real world, which comes out today. Roots of […]
As first impressions go, Josh Heupel probably couldn’t ask for a better opener among FBS foes. Bowling Green went 0-5 in the MAC last season, losing by an average margin of 45-11. Only UMass was worse in SP+ last season, and the Falcons are 125th in 2021 preseason SP+ projections. […]
It’s July 9, which means we’re still deep in the land of power rankings and projections. Phil Steele’s mammoth magazine usually provides some off-season content, but one of the biggest red flags for me personally is how little Tennessee shows up in it at all this year. Stay tuned. The […]
One of the conversations I’ve encountered most in these last few weeks is how we’ve become accustomed to bad news following good. We’re living a bit of it right now until Tony Vitello signs an extension. It’s not just that football has trended down over 13 years…it’s that none of […]
Tennessee’s season came to an end in Omaha yesterday, a second loss in two chances at the College World Series. There’s a significant percentage of this conversation that now has to wait, holding its breath for Tony Vitello and Danny White to emerge at the same press conference instead of […]
Tennessee’s last three trips to Omaha went like this: 1995: The #5 overall seed had Todd Helton and R.A. Dickey, and beat Clemson in the opening game. Then they ran into one of the clearest cases of, “Yep, that team’s better than us,” in any of Tennessee’s postseason history: #1 […]
So it looks like we’re going to 12, though there will be some weeping and gnashing of teeth over going higher than eight. (And some additional tears for quarterfinal rounds keeping bowls on life support instead of more games on campus.) Tennessee, of course, is a long, long way from […]
The baseball Vols are deep in our hearts now, the general joy of advancing to the program’s first super regional since 2005, and the specific atom bomb of Drew Gilbert’s walk-off grand slam against Wright State to begin that journey last weekend. Baseball may not earn the crowds or the […]
In today’s NCAA Baseball Tournament bracket reveal, the Vols were the #3 overall seed. They’ll host an opening regional against Duke, Liberty, and Wright State, with a chance to advance at host a super regional against the team coming out of the Oregon regional. Tony Vitello took the Vols to […]
When we search for the good old days, we don’t have to go back quite as far as you think. Pat Summitt, Candace Parker, and the Lady Vols finished off their second straight national championship in the spring of 2008, probably the last major mountaintop for the University of Tennessee. […]