The CheckerBoard

I will never concede defeat to South Carolina.

Everybody. National title. Go Vols.

Kidding. I think we beat South Carolina and another team out of Georgia/Florida/Bama/Oregon. Also, it depends on who we are technically supposed to beat. Vandy will probably be favored at the beginning of the season, but I think we are supposed to beat Vandy, Mizzou, and Kentucky every year, Auburn too

I think this is the best objective and realistic evaluation of next year's outlook. We wont/cant lose to UK, Peay, So. Bama or W. Kent.. Lose any of those and someone has some explaining to do. We are not beating UGA, Bama, Oregon, Florida or SC.. The talent gap is too great, and the losses on the offensive side of the ball too much for us to expect a win in any of those games. So that's 4 wins against 5 losses. The season, and the immediate future of the program some might say, are going to come down to three games. Auburn, Mizzou and Vandy. We win two, and it's 6-6 and slightly disappointing, but within the range of expected outcomes. Win three and you have to be satisfied. Win only one or none, and that's going to be a problem, and would likely put a dent in any recruiting momentum we were trying to establish.

Unfortunately, I think beating Auburn and Vandy would both be considered "upsets" based on public perception, so I would have to say those two are the most likely upsets.

And then if we get in to the next tier of teams, I think South Carolina is the most likely. Their biggest defensive strength (Clowney) is neutralized by our biggest offensive strength (Tiny). They also lost their best offensive playmakers (Lattimore and Sanders). If our defense improves to just average - I mean, how can it not improve - then this game is pretty winnable, especially at home.