TNVOLFN51

Mizzou is the toughest team to beat at this moment; I hope they cool down before they come to Tennessee February 11th.

Don't worry, when Tennessee beats Bama on Feb 15th, they'll rank Bama ahead of Tennessee in the next poll.

Did I miss something? I didn't see LSU mentioned one time in the article.

Why hesitant on Heupel? You don't think he's a top 5 coach in the SEC? You don't think he's done more with less? The amount of money is absurd, but that's the current market... What he's done and the prospect of what he can do is a Hell of a lot better than what we've endured the past 15 years.

This was my best assumption.

Interesting move by Kendal Briles, considering Jefferson is returning. I know TCU is an easier gig than any place in SEC West, but why run from competition? What say you, hog fans, why did Briles leave after turning down other opportunities last year? Outside looking in, I'd say Sam Pittman would be an awesome guy to work for as a coach.

Very insightful.

I wondered when this was going to happen, really saw him as the odd man out for the Vols.

It absolutely was the difference. Also, why we're on it, no other Coach was belly aching, or had the opportunity to belly ache, on National TV about being excluded from the playoffs. Heupel didn't have a vote in the coaches poll, hence the opportunity to nullify Saban's extremely biased vote. What a crock!

You're absolutely right, but my issue is that Saban's vote was the difference in the finishing order between Tennessee and Alabama. I don't know, I know only one ranking truly matters, but perhaps, they should "trim the means" and get rid of each team's highest ranking and lowest ranking in the polls. There isn't an objective tiebreaker in sports that would give Alabama the nod over Tennessee.

By every objective tiebreaker used in every sport, Vols would get the nod over the Tide; it took flawed human bias to screw it up! But, but, but, S. Carolina... I say, let Vols and Tide settle it on the field! Oh, wait.

I understand Kentucky fans frustration with Cal and this year's team, but doesn't next year's recruiting class make it a little easier to digest? I know it's the same every year with a heralded class, but next year's recruiting class seems like one of his best ever.

I understand where you're coming from and you make a great point about honoring your contract, especially to your country. My only counter to that is when he signed up, deferring service in a case like his was an option, if I'm not mistaken; the language in a recent Bill is what complicated matters for him to defer service. Personally, I say make him recruit for the Army during the offseason, I'd think he'd be much more valuable in that capacity than any other job in the Army.

I 110% understand the decision, I just don't know why it was necessary to hype an "announcement" for 1pm today; he could've just posted that whenever he made his decision... Small potatoes, I just don't think that was necessary, just make the announcement whenever you came to the decision.

At this point, I'm okay with players who will be on next year's roster and seniors who want to suit up one last time leading the Vols into battle.

Tough day for the SEC and the football world in general, we lost an icon!

That stinks, was really hoping he would play.

Mizzou plays KY in basketball on that day.

I sure hope he plays, I want the SEC to be as strong as possible during the bowl season.

I think there will still be drama and significance associated with the regular season. The mix between contending for conference titles and the 6 at-large bids will create more drama, just further down the pecking order. The Dawgs probably won't experience much drama, but how much drama have they really experienced this year besides not being #1 in the first CFP rankings? Think about this year, the most drama going into this final weekend is USC's result. If the playoffs were expanded, every conference championship would have exponential effects on the postseason.