Tennessee vs. Georgia (photo form @vol_football IG)
Tennessee will face Georgia, in Athens as a -8 underdog. The #1 team in the CFP is an eight-point underdog! If you like college football, this could easily be the game of the year!
But first, let’s reflect on the Vols 44-6 beatdown over the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday. A night game in Neyland Stadium where Tennessee entered #DarkMode. Don’t tell me college football isn’t romantic.
The Vols didn’t play their best game statistically against Kentucky. And yet, Tennessee still beat the bleeeep out of the 19th-ranked team in the country. The game was never in doubt, it was all Vols. The Vols showed Kentucky how to play “real football” in their blowout win over the Cats in Knoxville. Kentucky QB, Will Levis, watched his draft profile slip out of his hands just like those three interceptions.
The focus for the Vols quickly shifted from the Cats to the Dawgs.
The Georgia-Tennessee matchup will be the 25th time a regular-season game will feature the top two teams in the AP poll and the third straight time involving SEC teams. ESPN’s College Gameday will be in Athens making it the third time Gameday has covered the Vols. Gameday knows Tennessee vs. Georgia went from a traditional SEC east game to what could be the biggest game of the year. Both teams remain undefeated with four other teams in college football.
What happens between the hedges will mean a lot more this Saturday. The Vols have the best resume in college football this season, with FIVE AP Top 25 wins and an historic upset over Alabama. The first College Football Playoff rankings came out Tuesday night. Tennessee’s resume ranked them as the number one team in the CFP. The Dawgs are not happy about the #3 spot in the CFP initial top 25 rankings. But the CFP ranking does not matter right now. Beating the Dawgs in Athens on Saturday is what matters! Vegas is still saying Tennessee is the underdog.
The last time the Vols were ranked #2 in the AP poll was in 2001. While the Dawgs are the reigning National Champions and are playing like they are ready to win back-to-back Championships. Both teams have veteran QB’s who are studs. The matchup will feature the nation’s top two offenses. Tennessee plays fast and fully expect my Apple watch to alert me my heart rate has skyrocketed. Tennessee’s FIVE wins over ranked opponents is the most in the country! Georgia has one win over a ranked opponent. Therefore, UT has a little more cushion in CFP rankings. The winner will most likely play in the SEC title game. A win or a loss in this game could still put both teams in the CFP bracket. A win would guarantee (assuming both teams continue to win the last three games of the regular season) a CFP spot.
Georgia’s head coach, Kirby Smart knows how big this game is.
Saturday we need Dawg Nation to affect the game !! If you can talk when you leave, you didn’t yell enough !!
— Coach Kirby Smart (@KirbySmartUGA) October 30, 2022
Tennessee football hasn’t been this much fun to watch in a long, long time. Josh Heupel gets it!
A year and half ago, Heupel was named the Head Coach for UT. Thirty-five players had entered the transfer portal and countless recruits had decommitted as the Vols were coming off a 3-7 season. Talk about a turnaround! For the first time in decades, this program is prepared every week to be an elite team. And they sure are having a lot of fun while winning.
Georgia is still an eight-point favorite against Tennessee. We are about to find out if that is just downright disrespectful to call the Vols underdogs and or is Georgia the real Dawgs in college football. As the kids say these days, “bleep around and find out”. It all goes down in Sanford Stadium at 3:30pm on CBS. LET’S GO VOLS!
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