Gameday Today: So, about that press conference yesterday

Addressing that press conference yesterday, and moving on to actual reasons to be excited about Tennessee playing Georgia this week.

Butch Jones had a press conference yesterday, and . . .

. . . yeah, that was . . . something. Jones gave an odd response to a question about why Jauan Jennings hasn’t been on the sideline, and then he responded to a question about whether Shy Tuttle’s injury might have been caused by a teammate with a lecture about negativity, reality TV, and fake news.

Look, I think I understand Butch Jones. I’m on record as being an unapologetic cultivator of the optimism bias, and I have a raging allergy to negativity. He and I probably have that in common, which is likely a dangerous thing to admit this week. So forget I said that.

But . . . but, . . . that really didn’t help.

The odd thing is that the guys on ESPN’s College Gameday said some very similar things just a couple of days before:

The lesson here, I think, is that this isn’t a point you can make for yourself. That, and if your aim is to criticize the media, you probably don’t want to trial balloon that sucker with the media first.

Butch’s closing statement triggered a whole bunch of nonsense on Twitter, but that should have been the expected result. The smartest thing I read about the whole ordeal came from Mike Griffith at SEC Country, who said (a bit too, generously, I think) that Butch just continues to try too hard:

If recent history is any sort of indicator, most coaches would not have had much to say to either of the questions that seemed to irritate Jones, and some might have abruptly ended their press conferences.

But Jones continues to try to explain everything and say the right things, and in pressing to do so he produces explanations that not everyone has the perspective to understand.

As I said, the second part of that might actually be a little overly generous, but I think the point of the first part stands. I personally believe that Jones’ heart is in the right place, but he hasn’t yet learned when to say what. The only thing you can do when everybody’s in a mood is keep quiet and get back to work.

Speaking of getting back to work . . .

It’s Georgia Week

Yeah, so Georgia had a good weekend, and Tennessee had a bad one, so the stage is set for a blowout, right?

Maybe. But maybe not. Some are saying loudly that Jones is coaching for his job this weekend, but that doesn’t necessarily portend disaster. We’ve seen that movie before with a different cast of characters, as this wouldn’t be the first time that the Georgia game kept a season from going off the rails. And besides, the same thing that was so disappointing about last weekend is actually the same reason to be excited for this one:

Regardless of anything else, it’s a big game. SEC Nation is going to set up shop on Rocky Top, broadcasting live from the Ayres Hall lawn from 10 to noon Saturday. The school has announced that it’s a Checker Neyland game, so if you need to figure out whether to wear orange or white, you can do that here.

Lost in the hubbub of yesterday’s press conference is the fact that starting tight end Ethan Wolf and backup tight end Jakob Johnson both left the UMass game with injuries. Fortunately, the team expects at least one of them back for Georgia (Wolf, I’m guessing, as he wasn’t in a walking boot.) Also, Evan Berry is still out, but the team expects to have Jashon Robertson and Shy Tuttle back Saturday as well.

Expect the team to pull out all of the stops Saturday and possibly even take a look at a Wildcat package to give the offense another dimension and a spark.

Quick hits

Do you need more evidence that John Kelly is THE MAN? Well, here:

Have you ever wondered what the point of those honorary coaches is? Well, here:

Tennessee Vols Statistical Rankings after UMass

Here’s our weekly update of the Vols’ statistical rankings, after the Florida game.

Offensive observations: Okay, so the offense is doing a good job of not letting the quarterback get sacked. Not so good on preventing TFLs, though, and honestly, needs work in most areas. These stats are compiled against two good teams and two not so good teams, so it’s a pretty good set of data, I think. They need work in the red zone, in the passing game, and, surprisingly, in the running game as well. Lots of stuff to work on here.

Defensive observations: The secondary seems to be doing an admirable job in not getting torched in the passing game, that last play against Florida notwithstanding. They’re also okay on fourth downs, at sacks and TFLs, and in preventing the other team from putting points on the board.

They need work everywhere else, though. That Georgia Tech games is still skewing the defensive stats a bit, but that’s not the only explanation.

Special Teams observations: Alright. Not broke, except for coverage of kickoff returns. They can improve coverage on punt returns, too.

Turnovers and Penalties observations: Also, not bad. The team needs to focus primarily on getting better on both offense and defense.

Player Rankings

Man, are we fortunate to have John Kelly on this team. And Trevor Daniel. It does appear that making it more of a point to get Marquez Callaway the ball would be a good thing for the offense, as well.

Forecasting win probabilities for the Vols after UMass

Any other week, the results we saw from other teams would have provided some pretty good news for Vols fans interested in how the rest of the games on the schedule are shaping up, but a lackluster performance by the Vols against UMass undoes almost all of that and negatively impacts our win probability expectations downward across the board.

Explanations are below, but here’s the updated chart for this week:

Basically, the entire thing shifted into more difficult territory than it had been last week. That can change after a better showing this week against Georgia, but man, that 17-13 win at a game I had slotted at the 99% line sure is making me nervous.

The Vols after UMass

Tennessee was roughly a 28-point favorite over UMass this past Saturday, an 0-4 team that had not even played anyone of merit so far, but barely eked out a 17-13 lethargic win. It was almost certainly a hangover game, one where the team was still reeling from that stomach-churning loss to hated rival Florida, looking ahead to a big game against Georgia the following week, and thinking that it could sleepwalk through the current week to a win over UMass. But you can’t ignore that it happened, either, and let’s face it: This past Saturday, the Vols looked like they could lose to almost anyone.

Adding that to the season’s other data points — a defense that got rolled by Georgia Tech until the final play, an only-decent game against Indiana State, a loss that shouldn’t have been against Florida — and you likely don’t have a lot of confidence in the Vols at this point in the season. It’s not that the team couldn’t gain its footing and look good the rest of the way; they absolutely could. But we don’t have any real evidence yet to suggest that they will.

For those reasons, I feel significantly less confident in the Vols’ prospects the rest of the season. I’m still hopeful they can get it turned around, but confidence in them actually doing it has taken a hit.

The Vols’ past opponents

Georgia Tech (2-1, 1-0 ACC, NR)

  • W1: Lost to Tennessee 42-41 in double overtime.
  • W2: Beat Jacksonville State, 37-10.
  • W3: At UCF (canceled)
  • W4: Beat Pitt, 35-17.
  • W5: North Carolina
  • W6: Bye
  • W7: At #17 Miami
  • W8: Wake Forest
  • W9: At #3 Clemson
  • W10: At Virginia
  • W11: #16 Virginia Tech
  • W12: At Duke
  • W13: #13 Georgia

KirVonte Benson ran for 196 yards and two touchdowns, and TaQuon Marshall added 112 yards and another two touchdowns as the Yellow Jackets overwhelmed Pitt. Georgia Tech now has the nation’s best rushing offense, averaging 393.7 yards per game. That average is something to watch, as it’s definitely aided by the 535 Tennessee gave them, which looked more like the Vols’ problem than GT’s strength when Jacksonville State allowed only 210. But GT also got 436 against Pitt. We’ll see how they do this week against North Carolina and then Miami the following week.

Indiana State (0-3, 0-0 MVFC, NR)

  • W1: Lost to E Illinois, 22-20.
  • W2: Lost to Tennessee, 42-7.
  • W3: Lost to Liberty, 42-41 on a blocked 23-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
  • W4: Bye
  • W5: At Illinois State
  • W6: North Dakota State
  • W7: At South Dakota
  • W8: S Illinois
  • W9: At Missouri State
  • W10: Youngstown State
  • W11: W Illinois
  • W12: At Northern Iowa

Florida (2-1, 2-0 SEC, #24)

  • W1: Lost to #11 Michigan, 33-17.
  • W2: Canceled game with N Colorado.
  • W3: Beat #25 Tennessee, 26-20.
  • W4: Beat Kentucky, 28-27.
  • W5: Vanderbilt
  • W6: #12 LSU
  • W7: Texas A&M
  • W8: Bye
  • W9: vs #15 Georgia
  • W10: At Missouri
  • W11: At South Carolina
  • W12: UAB
  • W13: #10 Florida State

As bad as Tennessee fans felt after the Vols gifted their game to Florida, Kentucky fans must feel even worse after blowing their chance at finally throwing off 30 years of futility. The Wildcats had the Gators beat 27-21 with less than a minute to play, but they not only left a receiver completely uncovered inside the 10-yard line, his defender was actually running off the field. Kentucky still had a chance after that but then committed a holding penalty while in field goal range on the last play before having to kick a field goal, which ended up being a 56-yard attempt that was just short. And now Florida is 2-0 in SEC games their opponents should have won and, consequently, 2-0 in the SEC. Credit to those guys for somehow getting it done in both of those games, but Jim McElwain has looked after each of the past two games like he feels almost guilty for winning each of them.

9/23/17: UMass (0-5, 0-0 IND, NR)

  • W1: Lost to Hawaii, 38-35.
  • W2: Lost to C. Carolina, 38-28.
  • W3: Lost to Old Dominion, 17-7.
  • W4: Lost to Temple, 29-21.
  • W5: Lost to Tennessee, 17-13.
  • W6: Ohio
  • W7: Bye
  • W8: At #21 USF
  • W9: Ga Southern
  • W10: Appalachian State
  • W11: At Mississippi State
  • W12: Maine
  • W13: At BYU

We’ve been over this. Apparently, the game was even unworthy of a recap from ESPN. Sounds about right.

The Vols’ future opponents

9/30/17: Georgia (4-0, 1-0 SEC, #7)

  • W1: Beat Appalachian State, 31-10. QB Jacob Eason went down, but freshman Jake Fromm looked good and took care of business.
  • W2: Beat #24 Notre Dame, 20-19.
  • W3: Beat Samford, 42-14.
  • W4: Easily handled #17 Mississippi State, 31-3.
  • W5: At #25 Tennessee
  • W6: At Vanderbilt
  • W7: Missouri
  • W8: Bye
  • W9: vs. #22 Florida
  • W10: South Carolina
  • W11: At #13 Auburn
  • W12: Kentucky
  • W13: At Georgia Tech

Expectations for a Vols win: Honestly, these guys looked good. Like maybe-they-could-compete-with-Alabama good. Not good news for a Vols team that struggled mightily against UMass. I had this game at 45% to begin the season, and I lowered it to 40% since then. After what happened with them and with the Vols this past weekend, I’m moving it all the way down to 20%. I don’t feel good about it at all. Maybe they’ll mismanage the quarterback situation with Jacob Eason getting healthy again, but other than that, I don’t see any vulnerability here.

PREDICTIONS – GEORGIA
W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W13
45 45 40 40 20

10/14/17: South Carolina (3-1, 1-1 SEC, NR)

  • W1: Beat NC State, 35-28.
  • W2: Beat Missouri, 31-13.
  • W3: Lost to Kentucky, 23-13.
  • W4: Beat LA Tech, 17-16.
  • W5: At Texas A&M
  • W6: Arkansas
  • W7: At #25 Tennessee
  • W8: Bye
  • W9: Vanderbilt
  • W10: At #15 Georgia
  • W11: #22 Florida
  • W12: Wofford
  • W13: #3 Clemson

Expectations for a Vols win: Not only did South Carolina only barely beat Louisiana Tech, they needed two huge plays with time winding down and a 31-yard field goal with seven seconds left from a kicker who’d missed his last four to get the win. This is a different team without Deebo Samuel. I moved the game to 75% last week. I’d increase that even more if Tennessee didn’t also lay an egg in a win. As it is, I’m keeping it at 75%.

PREDICTIONS – SOUTH CAROLINA
W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W13
69 69 60 75 75

10/21/17: Alabama (4-0, 1-0 SEC, #1)

  • W1: Beat #3 Florida State, 24-7.
  • W2: Beat Fresno State, 41-10.
  • W3: Beat Colorado State, 41-23.
  • W4: Beat Vanderbilt, 59-0.
  • W5: Ole Miss
  • W6: At Texas A&M
  • W7: Arkansas
  • W8: #25 Tennessee
  • W9: Bye
  • W10: #12 LSU
  • W11: At Mississippi State
  • W12: Mercer
  • W13: At #13 Auburn

Expectations for a Vols win: Nick Saban reportedly asked his guys to prove that they knew how to dominate an opponent for a full 60 minutes prior to playing this game. I think they passed. I’ve had the Tennessee-Vandy game at 10% all season, but now I’m changing it to 5%, which is practically never-never land for me, a place I don’t generally spend much time. I don’t like it there; it’s grey and dreary and all they have to eat is plain white toast. I hope to escape next week.

PREDICTIONS – ALABAMA
W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W13
10 10 10 10 5

10/28/17: Kentucky (3-1, 1-1 SEC, NR)

  • W1: Beat Southern Miss, 24-17.
  • W2: Best E Kentucky, 27-16.
  • W3: Beat South Carolina, 23-13.
  • W4: Lost to #20 Florida, 28-27.
  • W5: E Michigan
  • W6: Missouri
  • W7: Bye
  • W8: At Mississippi State
  • W9: #25 Tennessee
  • W10: Ole Miss
  • W11: At Vanderbilt
  • W12: At #15 Georgia
  • W13: #17 Lousiville

Expectations for a Vols win: See the game recap from the Florida section above. On one hand, the Wildcats nearly beat Florida, so they’re looking good enough to beat Tennessee, sure. On the other hand, they appear to have that problem of getting over mental hurdles against certain teams (we can relate), and fortunately, that problem tends to manifest itself against the Vols, too, that Dooley game I’ve repressed notwithstanding. I’m wavering, but I’m going to move this game from 65% to 55%.

PREDICTIONS – KENTUCKY
W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W13
65 65 70 65 55

11/4/17: Southern Miss (2-1, 0-0 C-USA, NR)

  • W1: Lost to Kentucky, 24-17.
  • W2: Beat Southern, 45-0.
  • W3: Beat UL Monroe, 28-17.
  • W4: Bye
  • W5: North Texas
  • W6: UTSA
  • W7: UTEP
  • W8: At LA Tech
  • W9: UAB
  • W10: At #25 Tennessee
  • W11: At Rice
  • W12: Charlotte
  • W13: At Marshall

Expectations for a Vols win: Southern Miss didn’t play this week, but the Vols did. I had this game at 80% last week, and this week I’m moving it to 70%.

PREDICTIONS – SOUTHERN MISS
W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W13
90 85 80 80 70

11/11/17: Missouri (1-3, 0-2 SEC, NR)

  • W1: Beat Missouri State 72-43.
  • W2: Lost to South Carolina, 31-13.
  • W3: Lost to Purdue, 35-3.
  • W4: Lost to #15 Auburn, 51-14.
  • W5: Bye
  • W6: At Kentucky
  • W7: At #15 Georgia
  • W8: Idaho
  • W9: At UConn
  • W10: #22 Florida
  • W11: #25 Tennessee
  • W12: At Vanderbilt
  • W13: At Arkansas

Expectations for a Vols win: If there’s one team that sort of out-did Tennessee this week in the egg-laying department, it’s Missouri. I’m going to call that a push and leave the game right where it is at 70%.

PREDICTIONS – MISSOURI
W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W13
70 65 70 70 70

11/18/17: LSU (3-1, 0-1 SEC, #25)

  • W1: Beat BYU, 27-0.
  • W2: Beat Chattanooga, 45-10.
  • W3: Lost to Mississippi State, 37-7.
  • W4: Beat Syracuse, 35-26.
  • W5: Troy
  • W6: At #22 Florida
  • W7: #13 Auburn
  • W8: At Ole Miss
  • W9: Bye
  • W10: At #1 Alabama
  • W11: Arkansas
  • W12: At #25 Tennessee
  • W13: Texas A&M

Expectations for a Vols win: Any other week, LSU looking bad against Syracuse would have been cause to make a significant adjustment. Not this week. Keeping the game at 45%.

PREDICTIONS – LSU
W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W13
25 25 25 45 45

11/25/17: Vanderbilt (3-1, 0-1 SEC, NR)

  • W1: Beat MTSU, 28-6.
  • W2: Beat Alabama A&M, 42-0.
  • W3: Beat #19 Kansas State, 14-7.
  • W4: Lost to #1 Alabama, 59-0.
  • W5: At #22 Florida
  • W6: #15 Georgia
  • W7: At Ole Miss
  • W8: Bye
  • W9: At South Carolina
  • W10: W Kentucky
  • W11: Kentucky
  • W12: Missouri
  • W13: At #25 Tennessee

Expectations for a Vols win: Vanderbilt, I feel your pain. No matter how much progress you’ve made, it’s sometimes difficult to see when playing in the SEC. Losing 59-0 to an Alabama team that Nick Saban remembered to say “Sic ‘Em” to does not mean that you’re not much better than you have been the past few seasons. I’m going to keep this one at 55% for now.

PREDICTIONS – VANDERBILT
W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W13
72 72 65 55 55

All of that puts me at 6.95 wins, down from 7.39 last week. I still have 8 wins if you just count games I had to pick straight up. It’s just that I don’t feel as good about most of them.

Community Expectations

As of Sunday evening at 8:30, here’s where the GRT community stands on all of the above:

Tennessee 17, UMass 13: The Heat Is On

My seat in Section Q at Neyland Stadium today was in the shade and out of the searing Knoxville heat. That’s OK. I was fuming so much watching that game that I probably kept everybody sitting around me sweating.

Yeah, I was angry watching Tennessee sleepwalk through a 17-13 win-that-felt-like-a-loss over arguably one of the five worst Football Bowl Subdivision teams in the nation. UMass had lost to Hawaii, Coastal Carolina, Old Dominion and Temple entering Saturday’s game. Yet, there they were, trading punches with a team we expect to be competing for the SEC East in Year 5 of Butch Jones’ regime.

These Minutemen were a baaaaaaad football team. If you thought Jones’ seat was warm, you couldn’t even touch Mark Whipple’s without getting burned.

Yet, there was UMass, stymying Tennessee on drive after drive no matter who played quarterback for the Vols and with multiple opportunities to outright beat them in the fourth quarter. It was inexplicable. Baffling. Unacceptable.

But, for all the venom I could spew here that would do no good, all you need to know is this: In my 27 years of attending football games in Neyland Stadium, I’ve perhaps never seen a fan base so apathetic as I saw on Saturday. There was more anger during the Derek Dooley years, sure, but how many times have you seen a half-empty Neyland during the fourth quarter of a four-point game?

The crowd was announced at more than 95,000 (it wasn’t). By the time the Vols secured the win late in the fourth quarter, maybe 50K fans sat in their seats. It was quiet, listless, frustrated.

If I’m Jones, that’s what I’m worried about.

The Vols are 3-1, with a chance to still make plenty of noise in the SEC and secure some positivity in this season. Yes, they also could go 7-5 or 6-6. Right now, probably more fans are expecting the latter than the former. But you need butts in the seats. You need the coffers full. You need folks caring.

I didn’t see it Saturday.

This team needs a jump-start; a win over a Georgia team that looks awfully good against Mississippi State as I type this up, would be a start. A victory against Alabama ain’t happening, so — as Will wrote earlier this afternoon — this weekend’s game against the Bulldogs is in all likelihood where the two potential roads of Jones’ UT career diverge. It very well may be his Waterloo.

They may need a jump-start on the season, but against the Minutemen, the Vols needed an alarm clock. They hit the snooze button in the first half and never woke up. Let’s put it this way: We sat behind a nice couple from White House, Tennessee, who has a son in the Pride of the Southland Band. The excitement around our seats when he was playing the trumpet on the field was the best thing that happened all day.

I took my 7-year-old son to a Vols game, and a drawing party broke out. He sat most of the second half with his head buried in his drawing pad, doodling pictures of monsters. Meanwhile, I was watching the Vols and battling the ones in my head. “How do I write about this and stay respectful?” and “Is this the beginning of the end?”

Things like that raced through my brain, and they raced through yours, too. Some of those spewed out onto my Twitter, and they did on yours, too. We want to be fair, and we all want Butch to succeed. But the bottom line is right now, it doesn’t feel like he will. Again, the decisions he made on Saturday were puzzling, to say the least. Even if we all wanted to see what Jarrett Guarantano could do, was that really the best time to put him in? Do we have to run up the middle on every single first-down play? Can we target Marquez Callaway just once? These decisions — Butch’s decisions — continue to confound.

Look, we’re all mad. We all see what’s happening, and it’s bad. We as fans aren’t the problem, but we also aren’t helping. How much have you voiced your displeasure on message boards or in 140 characters or less? They are like giving in to those momentary sins; they may make you feel better in the moment, but they ultimately accomplish nothing.

The biggest voices that were heard Saturday were the ones that didn’t shout, the ones who were there at the start of the UMass game, but not the end.

I’m not condoning that, and I’m not judging it, either. I stayed until the bitter end, like I have in all but one game I attended in my life, when I drove an older friend up, and he wanted to get a head start on traffic rather than stick around. The Vols lost that night.

On Saturday morning, it felt like a loss even though a win went in the record books. Why? Because Jones lost us a little more; we’re a little further down the rabbit hole of believing a change may be needed, and while none of us want that to happen, we’re at the point of his coaching tenure where we’re pointing to one game (next week) where we’ll be an underdog at home that may define whether or not he’s got a future in Knoxville.

Say what you want about whether or not Jones is on the “hot seat.” Call it what you will. I don’t care if you say he’s “teetering on the brink,” “needing some positive vibes” or “approaching a turning point.” Whatever you want to say, if one game is a defining moment of a season or a coaching career, that’s a pretty warm predicament.

Prior to the season, I’d heard from people around the program I trust that Jones’ job was in “no danger” this year. Athletic director John Currie already came out this past week and commended the job Butch has done again. So, you can take him at his word, or you can take that as coachspeak from a savvy administrator who sees no reason to douse anything in what is — ultimately — a 3-1 team with plenty for which to play. Why would Currie say anything otherwise now? There’s no reason to.

I believe Jones and the Vols still hold this coaching staff’s future — and this season — in their hands, regardless of what happened last week or what happened Saturday. As Jones loves to say to the media, you put your resume on film. He speaks that about his players, and he dissects every day in practice and every game to make those determinations on who should be playing and who should be sitting.

After the next few weeks, Jones’ resume will be on film. He’s been a gameday liability a lot of times throughout his time at Tennessee, but he’s got some time to turn it around. If the Vols can get on a hot streak and play up to their talents and capabilities, we’ll see soon enough if Jones can be the guy to take this team to the next level. If they don’t take care of business over the next few weeks, well, that’ll tell us all we need to know, too, won’t it?

Saturday felt hopeless at times sitting there in Section Q, looking down at my little boy who’d shaken his pom-pom and sang Rocky Top and watched them run through the “T” and, then, lost interest. Most of that is because he’s 7 and just doesn’t understand the game, sure. But I looked around at the stadium, and it hadn’t been filled with 7-year-olds. It had been filled with men, women, boys and girls who came to Knoxville to watch the Vols and — at some point during a hot, disappointing morning — decided they had better things to do.

A lot of that is fairweather fans and frustration. But some of it is spending hard-earned money and free time to sit there and be angry, and some people just won’t do it, for better or worse, agree or disagree.

It’s up to Jones and the Vols to change their minds. It starts next week against Georgia. That’s where the narrative will be written, on this season, and maybe even on Jones’ regime.

Vols Avoid Disaster with a Defining Week Ahead

The best part about drawing conclusions from today is you don’t really have to:  after two years of premature calls on “THE MOST IMPORTANT GAME IN BUTCH JONES’ CAREER!!!!!”, the real thing is coming to Knoxville next Saturday.

This was probably true no matter what Tennessee did today. But a 17-13 win over UMass did nothing to lower the temperature or raise confidence around the program.

Tennessee has a habit of doing something like this against teams like that. I think Appalachian State is a little too good for the comparison, but 28-19 over Ohio, 24-0 over North Texas, 34-19 over Arkansas State and even 31-24 over South Alabama in year one all come to mind. All games against over-matched foes where Tennessee didn’t cover the spread and didn’t seem particularly interested in doing so. I would not recommend this strategy against Southern Miss.

You don’t draw significant conclusions about a coach or a team based on what they do against non-power-five teams, as long as they win those games. But data points like today serve as secondary arguments, doing the Vols and their coach no favors when the primary arguments surround losses as painful as last week.

The next primary data point will roll into Knoxville on Saturday at 3:30, one of the most significant of Butch Jones’ tenure and, at this point, the most important. There will be only one of two conversations by 7:30 or so. We’ll either be talking about Tennessee’s chances in the SEC East, or talking about Butch Jones.

You can come to such a crossroad and make the right turn:  Phillip Fulmer did exactly that in the week leading up to this same Georgia game 10 years ago, and the Vols went on to win the division. If Kentucky and Mississippi State find ways to win tonight, a Tennessee victory over Georgia might even make the Vols one of the front-runners.

But a loss will put Tennessee in an almost impossible place in the SEC East with Alabama still on the schedule, and questions will dominate the bye week. I don’t think next week will be a must-win in the eyes of John Currie, not with half the season left to play. But the conversation will become unavoidable for the foreseeable future.

What happened today? Early on Tennessee fumbled, doinked a field goal, and hurt themselves with an offensive pass interference call. All those little things added up to just a 17-6 lead midway through the third quarter, and when UMass immediately responded with their best drive of the day, it was like Tennessee had already put the car in park. The Vols got only two first downs on their next five drives against the Minutemen, which included an appearance from Jarrett Guarantano that did not provide the spark I assume they were looking for.

Tennessee’s defense held UMass to 281 yards and 4.76 yards per play. But Tennessee’s offense managed only 319 yards and was actually worse per play (4.49).

A word on attendance:  the announced (paying?) crowd was 95,324. Many of them left early around that 17-6 mark. I always believe attendance is one of the most important ways you take the temperature of the fan base; the group that came and/or paid is still significantly healthier than what we’ve seen recently. Derek Dooley’s 2012 Vols drew only 87,821 after beating NC State to open the season, before things went wrong. They would go on to draw less than 90,000 announced four more times that year.

Tennessee’s program is in a much, much healthier place than that right now. But the thousands of fans who left early won’t be ignored either. Whether they assumed, were angry, or were bored today (plus I’m sure burning up in the heat), dissatisfaction is obvious.

But in the SEC, the opportunity for satisfaction is usually only one week away. Georgia, a team Butch Jones and Tennessee have beaten twice in a row for the first time since 2006-07, will represent the win he has most needed since arriving in Knoxville. Even more than Florida last year, when the Vols were suddenly playing without three of their best four defenders. Injuries are a factor for this year’s team, but they are not yet an excuse.

On the eve of that Florida game last year, we wrote something that continues to hold true for this team and its coaches:  Tennessee must believe “the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win” is the first maxim, but not the only one. Timidity begets timidity, and playing not to lose eventually begets losing.

Tennessee has to carry the fight to Georgia. If they do, I also believe confidence begets confidence. This is a talented team. Carry the fight. Because if they don’t, they are likely to find themselves in another painfully close game. That might happen against a good Georgia team anyway. But if you’re Tennessee, you don’t want to just go down swinging at the mercy of two or three plays. You need to come out swinging, and bend those plays to your will in the first quarter instead of the fourth. Be the aggressor. Earn victory.

Big, big week ahead. Carry the fight to Georgia and keep it there for sixty minutes.

Go Vols.

IBleedVolOrange wins Week 4 of the Gameday on Rocky Top Pick ‘Em Contest

Congratulations to IBleedVolOrange, who went a stellar 20-1 and finished first in this week’s Gameday on Rocky Top Pick ‘Em Pool. He (or she) wins a $25 gift card to our custom tee store, Web Community Tees, where he or she can get this sweet Gameday on Rocky Top t-shirt:

Gameday on Rocky Top Logo Tee

IBleedVolOrange, watch for a message from me on how to get your tee.

Knottfair takes the lead in the overall standings.

Here are the full results for this week:

Rank Selection Name W-L Pts Tie Breaker Game 13-17
1 IBleedVolOrange 20-1 213 17-46
2 dgibbs 17-4 206 10-38
3 BZACHARY 16-5 203 0-0
4 rockhopper78 18-3 201 12-38**
4 spartans100 17-4 201 14-41
6 DinnerJacket 17-4 200 9-45**
6 ChuckieTVol 17-4 200 16-45
8 jfarrar90 18-3 199 10-48**
8 LuckyGuess 15-6 199 20-42
10 Jahiegel 17-4 197 16-45
11 RichVols 18-3 196 17-52
12 Joel @ GRT 17-4 195 10-42**
12 Knottfair 17-4 195 13-45
12 rsbrooks25 18-3 195 13-52
12 GeorgeMonkey 18-3 195 21-45
12 C_hawkfan 17-4 195 19-47
12 Anaconda 18-3 195 0-0
18 KeepsCornInAJar 18-3 194 0-28
19 Phonies 17-4 193 7-40
20 UNDirish60 16-5 192 10-42**
20 birdjam 17-4 192 17-48
22 Volfan2002 16-5 191 10-38**
22 mmmjtx 16-5 191 10-38**
22 joeb_1 15-6 191 13-37
22 Gman15 17-4 191 17-41
26 tdrb42 17-4 190 7-42**
26 Displaced_Vol_Fan 15-6 190 6-44
26 mobilevol 14-7 190 6-45
29 ctull 16-5 189 7-28
30 waltsspac 15-6 188 10-42
31 the-albatross 15-6 187 7-42**
31 OriginalVol1814 15-6 187 45-10
31 jeremy.waldroop 17-4 187 49-20
34 boro wvvol 15-6 186 10-35**
34 TNann 18-3 186 24-42
34 wreckvol 17-4 186 17-55
37 waitwhereami 15-6 185 10-31
38 PAVolFan 16-5 184 10-32**
38 mariettavol 16-5 184 13-42
38 alanmar 16-5 184 27-37
38 CajunVol 17-4 184 0-0
38 1hoss2 17-4 184 0-0
43 ddayvolsfan 15-6 183 10-45**
43 ThePowerT 14-7 183 7-52
43 Volboy 16-5 183 7-56
43 chuckiepoo 16-5 183 13-54
43 tpi 17-4 183 0-0
48 jstorie1 15-6 182 7-35
49 mmb61 15-6 181 13-56
50 PrideofTheSouthlandFan 13-8 180 10-42**
50 VandyVol 13-8 180 17-42
52 Techboy 16-5 179 0-0
53 utkjmitch 13-8 178 13-49**
53 BlountVols 14-7 178 17-48
55 vols95 13-8 175 13-49
56 Will Shelton 9-Dec 172 7-41**
56 Bulldog 85 15-6 172 14-42
58 edgarmsmith 16-5 171 12-38**
58 Sam 16-5 171 10-60
60 HUTCH 14-7 169 10-34**
60 Rossboro 14-7 169 0-48
62 rollervol 15-6 168 35-10
63 crafdog 15-6 166 14-41**
63 Raven17 9-Dec 166 48-10
65 Harley 15-6 164 7-52
66 bking 13-8 163 17-37
67 aquasox 15-6 162 10-35
68 TennVol95 in 3D! 14-7 155 0-0
69 daetilus 13-8 154 10-45
70 ga26engr 14-7 152 10-42**
70 Drew 14-7 152 10-59
72 SouthernDCist 14-7 150 10-42
73 Jrstep 13-8 149 13-41
74 PensacolaVolFan 15-6 148 10-45
75 MeytonPanning 13-8 145 6-49
76 patmd 15-6 144 14-34**
76 RandyH112 13-8 144 0-55
78 Timbuktu126 13-8 140 0-36
79 ltvol99 14-7 133 0-52
80 ed75 9-Dec 131 6-48
81 rockytopinky 12-Sep 127 0-0
82 Dylan pickle 13-8 125 14-27
83 sncdaisy 0-21 124 -
83 BritishVol 0-21 124 -
83 901Vol 0-21 124 -
83 The Alyas Greys 0-21 124 -
83 EVOL 0-21 124 -
83 CNMcCreary 0-21 124 -
83 Jaywine 0-21 124 -
83 PaVol 0-21 124 -
83 T dog 0-21 124 -
83 kmchugh 0-21 124 -
83 over754ut 0-21 124 -
83 wedflatrock 0-21 124 -
83 biologydropout 0-21 124 -
83 rudydog 0-21 124 -
83 DCVFL 0-21 124 -
83 VillaVol 0-21 124 -
83 jobliner 0-21 124 -
83 memphispete 0-21 124 -

 

And here are the current overall standings after Week 4:

Rank Selection Name W-L Pts
1 Knottfair 63-17 736
2 dgibbs 62-18 732
3 jfarrar90 64-16 728
3 LuckyGuess 61-19 728
5 rockhopper78 61-19 726
6 spartans100 64-16 725
7 Displaced_Vol_Fan 61-19 723
7 C_hawkfan 64-16 723
9 ChuckieTVol 62-18 722
9 OriginalVol1814 61-19 722
11 BlountVols 62-18 720
12 UNDirish60 62-18 718
13 birdjam 63-17 717
14 Volfan2002 62-18 714
14 joeb_1 60-20 714
14 RichVols 62-18 714
17 Phonies 62-18 713
18 GeorgeMonkey 60-20 712
19 waltsspac 62-18 710
20 jeremy.waldroop 64-16 708
21 boro wvvol 59-21 706
22 waitwhereami 61-19 705
22 CajunVol 63-17 705
24 tdrb42 63-17 703
25 rsbrooks25 63-17 700
26 mariettavol 62-18 699
27 chuckiepoo 60-20 698
28 wreckvol 60-20 697
29 PAVolFan 59-21 696
29 mmmjtx 60-20 696
31 KeepsCornInAJar 61-19 695
31 utkjmitch 60-20 695
31 Volboy 60-20 695
34 alanmar 61-19 693
35 PrideofTheSouthlandFan 58-22 692
35 Jahiegel 60-20 692
35 Raven17 60-20 692
38 TNann 62-18 691
39 ThePowerT 58-22 690
40 Joel @ GRT 61-19 689
41 tpi 61-19 683
42 vols95 56-24 681
42 mmb61 57-23 681
44 Sam 61-19 679
45 DinnerJacket 58-22 678
45 BZACHARY 57-23 678
47 edgarmsmith 60-20 673
48 ctull 58-22 668
49 1hoss2 61-19 667
50 jstorie1 58-22 661
51 Will Shelton 52-28 660
51 Gman15 59-21 660
51 Drew 59-21 660
51 TennVol95 in 3D! 58-22 660
55 ddayvolsfan 57-23 656
56 biologydropout 47-33 654
57 rollervol 59-21 649
58 mobilevol 55-25 644
58 bking 56-24 644
60 aquasox 60-20 643
61 IBleedVolOrange 59-21 642
62 patmd 58-22 641
63 crafdog 59-21 639
63 Anaconda 44-36 639
63 VillaVol 44-36 639
66 ltvol99 57-23 634
66 EVOL 42-38 634
68 MeytonPanning 55-25 633
69 Jrstep 55-25 621
70 Techboy 51-29 612
71 Rossboro 44-36 606
72 rudydog 43-37 599
73 ed75 53-27 596
74 ga26engr 54-26 591
75 kmchugh 31-49 571
76 BritishVol 39-41 570
77 PensacolaVolFan 54-26 563
78 SouthernDCist 44-36 557
79 CNMcCreary 39-41 555
80 Timbuktu126 49-31 540
81 daetilus 44-36 539
82 sncdaisy 40-40 522
83 over754ut 29-51 500
84 rockytopinky 42-38 498
85 VandyVol 41-39 493
86 HUTCH 42-38 473
87 DCVFL 21-59 445
88 memphispete 18-62 436
89 901Vol 18-62 433
90 Harley 39-41 432
91 jobliner Dec-68 398
92 Dylan pickle 35-45 384
93 T dog 0-80 367
93 wedflatrock 0-80 367
95 Bulldog 85 28-52 318
96 The Alyas Greys 15-65 314
97 RandyH112 26-54 296
98 Jaywine 13-67 276
99 PaVol May-75 245
100 the-albatross 15-65 187

Gameday on Rocky Top Guessing Game Results: UMass Minutemen

In this week’s Guessing Game, Daetilus hits the bonus on two of three questions and captures a ten-point lead on the field.

The full play-by-play is below. This week’s questions will go up sometime Friday.

Top 10 as of the end of last week

Sam 23
Daetilus 22
Fatso 21
Jayyyy 21
Dave Strunk 19
Harley 18
Will Shelton 17
Marietta Vol 15
Joel Hollingsworth 15
TennVol95 13
Packtar 13
MitchellK 13

 

Round 1

Q: Which of Tennessee’s quarterbacks has more pass attempts? (5-10 points)

A: Quinten Dormady, by more than 5 (10 points) (27 to 5) (!)

Nine players get this right and get 10 points for it.

Mushrooms: Marietta Vol and Raven17

Bananas: hoosiervol (Welcome! Here’s a nanner!) and . . . Raven17. Heh.

Blue shells and bolts: None!!!

Top 10 after Round 1:

Daetilus 32
Fatso 31
PaVol 22
LTVol99 21
Josh Farrar 20
Dave Strunk 19
Harley 18
Will Shelton 17
Marietta Vol 16
Joel Hollingsworth 15
Alyas Grey 15

 

Round 2

Q: How many points does Tennessee score?

A: 0-29 (15 points) (17)

A total of . . . 0, nada, zip, ZERO, NONE! . . . players get this right, and everybody goes home a loser.

Mushrooms: Dave Strunk and Alyas Grey

Bananas: Josh Farrar takes both of these. (Ha!)

Blue shells and bolts: None!!!!

Top 10 after Round 2:

Daetilus 32
Fatso 31
PaVol 22
LTVol99 21
Dave Strunk 20
Josh Farrar 18
Harley 18
Will Shelton 17
Marietta Vol 16
Alyas Grey 16

 

Round 3

Q: How many points does UMass score?

A: 7-16 (10 points) (13)

Everybody but six players get this right and get 10 points for it.

Mushrooms: Marietta Vol and TennVol95

Bananas: Will Shelton and Raven17

Blue shells and bolts: None!!!!! Again!!!!! Another new record for length of time gone by with no blue shells.

Top 10 after Round 3:

Daetilus 42
PaVol 32
Fatso 31
Dave Strunk 30
Josh Farrar 28
Harley 28
Marietta Vol 27
Will Shelton 26
Alyas Grey 26
Joel Hollingsworth 25

 

Full table

Player W3T Pending Specials R1 R1 Sub R1 Specials R1 Total R2 R2 Sub R2 Specials R2 Total R3 R3 Sub R3 Specials R3 Total
Daetilus 22 10 32 32 32 32 10 42 42
PaVol 12 10 22 22 22 22 10 32 32
Fatso 21 10 31 31 31 31 31 31
Dave Strunk 19 19 19 19 1 20 10 30 30
Josh Farrar 10 10 20 20 20 -2 18 10 28 28
Harley 18 18 18 18 18 10 28 28
Marietta Vol 15 15 1 16 16 16 10 26 1 27
Will Shelton 17 17 17 17 17 10 27 -1 26
Alyas Grey 5 10 15 15 15 1 16 10 26 26
Joel Hollingsworth 15 15 15 15 15 10 25 25
TennVol95 13 13 13 13 13 10 23 1 24
MitchellK 13 13 13 13 13 10 23 23
Sam 23 23
LTVol99 11 10 21 21 21 21 21 21
Oleg Zeltser 1 10 11 11 11 11 10 21 21
Jayyyy 21 21
Raven17 9 9 0 9 9 9 10 19 -1 18
RockyTopinKY 8 8 8 8 8 10 18 18
RandyH 6 6 6 6 6 10 16 16
vfl_mks 4 10 14 14 14 14 14 14
Packtar 13 13
Evan 12 12
hoosiervol 0 10 10 -1 9 9 9 9 9
NJ Vol 8 8
cscott95 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
charles matthews 7 7
GoVols365 6 6
nelsona350 6 6
Bulldog 85 5 5
driskigm 5 5
Gr82baTNVol 5 5
Jason 5 5
Rockytop01 5 5
btpenley 4 4
wreckvol 4 4
Drew 3 3
Displaced_Vol_Fan 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
BibleVol 1 1
Craig 1 1
Larry Hildebrand 1 1
utkjmitch 1 1
GTZW 0 0
Volfaninsc 0 0

How many wins do you really expect out of the Vols now? Find out here.

My regular weekly recap of what happened with Tennessee and its past and future opponents this weekend won’t be up until tomorrow (I don’t expect it to be good news), but here’s your opportunity to use our Vols Win Probability Calculator to see where you’re at after this weekend.

The form is below. Post your result in the comments section as well for discussion purposes.

Tennessee Vols vs. UMass Minutemen: online game-watching party

The Tennessee Volunteers host the UMass Minutemen today at noon in Neyland Stadium. If you can’t be there, be here with like-minded Vols fans. The game’s on the SEC Network.

 

Get your Guessing Game answers in before noon. Root for the Vols to win and hope for no injuries and lots of young guys. Don’t be shocked to see UMass quarterback Andrew Ford do well, but expect the Vols to make the Minutemen one-dimensional. Collectively, we give Tennessee a 95% chance of winning, and the Vols are 28 point favorites.

Once the Vols game is over, shift to watching the rest of today’s college football slate. You can find our weekly college football TV schedule and rooting guide for Vols fans here, and that will serve as our “other games” thread as well.

College Football TV Schedule and Rooting Guide for Vols fans: Week 4

It’s still mid-September, and the 2007 season is here to tell you that stuff can happen, man. And this weekend is particularly ripe for a good kind of drama helpful to the Big Orange.

Most of the potential chaos is scheduled for Saturday evening, when we’re rooting for Mississippi State to hand Georgia an SEC loss and Kentucky to help Tennessee by making trouble for Florida, narrowing the gap the Vols must close to catch the Gators. We’ll also be keeping an eye on Missouri and LSU to take the temperature of the Vols’ chances against them later this season.

Here’s the Week 4 college football TV schedule, curated for Vols fans. It includes kickoff times, TV stations, and what’s at stake in each game from the perspective of a Vols fan. It also includes helpful suggestions on how to watch everything most efficiently and who to root for in each game.

The full schedule for the entire weekend is also included at the bottom of the post.

Go Vols!

Thursday, August 30, 2018 Thursday, August 30, 2018 Thursday, August 30, 2018 Thursday, August 30, 2018 Thursday, August 30, 2018 Thursday, August 30, 2018
No. 6 UCF UConn 7:00 PM ESPNU, WatchESPN Channel Hop Top 25 Team
Missouri State No. 14 Oklahoma State 8:00 PM FS1 Channel Hop Top 25 Team
No. 17 Northwestern Purdue 8:00 PM ESPN, WatchESPN Channel Hop Top 25 Team

 

Okay, so some are going to watch this and pine for Charlie Strong, but down that way lies madness. Watch because it’s football and enjoy your evening.

Friday, September 22

Friday, Sept. 22, 2017
Game Time (ET) TV Why How Root for
Virginia at Boise State 8:00 PM ESPN2 It's football Live An entertaining game
(23) Utah at Arizona 10:30 PM FS1 It's football Live Arizona (the underdog)

 

Again, this is just an opportunity to hear the sights and sounds of football, for which we all longed most of the summer. These may not get you buzzing, but they are sort of like comfort food. It makes you feel at home.

Gameday, September 23

And then it’s Gameday.

Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017
Game Time (ET) TV Why How Root for
UMass at Tennessee Noon SECN GO VOLS LIVE GO VOLS
(1) Alabama at Vanderbilt 3:30 PM CBS Two future opponents Live Alabama
(16) TCU at (6) Oklahoma State 3:30 PM ESPN Big game Plan B Entertaining game
(15) Auburn at Missouri 7/7:30 pm ESPNU Future opponent Check in Auburn
(17) Mississippi State at (11) Georgia 7:00 PM ESPN Direct impact on SEC East Channel hop Mississippi State
Syracuse at (25) LSU 7:00 PM ESPN2 Potential impact on SEC East Check in Syracuse
(20) Florida at Kentucky 7:30 PM SECN Direct impact on SEC East Channel hop Kentucky

 

If you’ve already given up hope for the Vols this season, well, we’ll see you for some of the games next year. You likely won’t care about any of this.

For those who remember 2007, though, here’s what we’re watching and hoping for Saturday:

Noon slot

Big win for the Vols, washing away as much of the Gators aftertaste as you can against a team like UMass, and playing a bunch of backups early and long.

Afternoon slot

  • We want Alabama to relieve Vanderbilt of some of that building swagger.
  • Once that gets boring, switch over to the big national game between #16 TCU and #6 Oklahoma State and root for an entertaining game.

Evening slot

Here’s where it really gets interesting.

  • At 7:00, #17 Mississippi State, who just pounded LSU last week, takes on #11 Georgia on ESPN. Vols fans need Georgia to take on as many losses as possible, so root hard for Mississippi State in this one.
  • At 7:30, #20 Florida travels to Lexington to take on a Kentucky squad also beginning to find some swagger. Look, I don’t like the idea of Kentucky being good, either, but we need Florida to take on as many losses as possible, too, and we can cross the Kentucky bridge when we come to it.
  • Periodically, check in with Missouri, who’s hosting #15 Auburn on ESPNU, and #25 LSU, who’s hosting Syracuse on ESPN2. I don’t think we need to worry much about Missouri, but some insurance would be nice. Also, I know the argument for wanting LSU to be good so a win over them looks better, but right now, we can’t be picky about the quality of SEC wins, so I wouldn’t mind seeing LSU fall completely apart and stumble into Neyland in November.

 

Complete college football TV schedule for Week 4

And here’s the complete schedule for the week, paginated and searchable!

Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017
Game Time (ET) TV
Temple at (21) USF 7:30 PM ESPN
Friday, Sept. 22, 2017
Game Time (ET) TV
Virginia at Boise State 8:00 PM ESPN2
(23) Utah at Arizona 10:30 PM FS1
Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017
Game Time (ET) TV
Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (in Arlington, TX) Noon ESPN
Army at Tulane Noon CBSSN
Kent State at (19) Louisville Noon RSN
NC State at (12) Florida State Noon ABC/ESPN2 (RM)
Texas Tech at Houston Noon ABC/ESPN2 (RM)
UMass at Tennessee Noon SECN
UNLV at (10) Ohio State Noon BTN
West Virginia at Kansas Noon ESPNU
Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech 12:20pm ACCN
New Mexico at Tulsa 1:30 PM ESPN3
Idaho at South Alabama 2:00 PM ESPN3
Ohio at Eastern Michigan 2:00 PM ESPN3
Old Dominion at (13) Virginia Tech 2:00 PM ACCNExtra
UCF at Maryland 3:00 PM FS1
(1) Alabama at Vanderbilt 3:30 PM CBS
Boston College at (2) Clemson 3:30 PM ESPN2
Cincinnati at Navy 3:30 PM CBSSN
Duke at North Carolina 3:30 PM ESPNU
Georgia Southern at Indiana 3:30 PM BTN
Louisiana Tech at South Carolina 3:30 PM SECN
Miami, OH at Central Michigan 3:30 PM ESPN3
Rutgers at Nebraska 3:30 PM BTN
(16) TCU at (6) Oklahoma State 3:30 PM ESPN
Toledo at (14) Miami, FL 3:30 PM RSN
(5) USC at California 3:30 PM ABC
Wake Forest at Appalachian State 3:30 PM ESPN3
(8) Michigan at Purdue 4:00 PM FOX
ULM at UL Lafayette 5:00 PM ESPN3
Akron at Troy 6:00 PM ESPN3
Georgia State at Charlotte 6:00 PM WCCB-TV
Nevada at (18) Washington State 6:00 PM Pac-12N
(3) Oklahoma at Baylor 6:30 PM FS1
UAB at North Texas 6:30 PM beIN Sports
Western Illinois at Coastal Carolina 6:30 PM ESPN3
ArKansas State at SMU 7:00 PM ESPN3
(15) Auburn at Missouri 7/7:30 pm ESPNU
Ball State at Western Kentucky 7:00 PM Stadium
Bowling Green at Middle Tennessee 7:00 PM ESPN3
Florida Atlantic at Buffalo 7:00 PM ESPN3
(17) Mississippi State at (11) Georgia 7:00 PM ESPN
(22) San Diego State at Air Force 7:00 PM CBSSN
Syracuse at (25) LSU 7:00 PM ESPN2
Wagner at Western Michigan 7:00 PM ESPN3
FIU at Rice 7:30 PM Facebook
(20) Florida at Kentucky 7:30 PM SECN
(4) Penn State at Iowa 7:30 PM ABC
Utah State at San Jose State 7:30 PM Facebook
UTSA at Texas State 7:30 PM ESPN3
Notre Dame at Michigan State 8:00 PM FOX
Southern Illinois at Memphis 8:00 PM WMC/ESPN3
UTEP at New Mexico State 8:00 PM ESPN3
(24) Oregon at Arizona State 10:00 PM Pac-12N
(7) Washington at Colorado 10:00 PM FS1
Hawaii at Wyoming 10:15 PM ESPN2
UCLA at Stanford 10:30 PM ESPN