Personally, I prefer it when there are plenty of doubters and not everyone is on the bandwagon. Clearly that is not a problem this year.
Tennessee Volunteers
We've written a lot about bubble-burst teams over the years, and this year's top candidate is a Tennessee team that hasn't faced top-10 expectations since the Phil Fulmer era. Butch Jones has recruited well and built this roster, but talent alone doesn't win championships. We like the attitude and work ethic of the first string, and the top leaders are solid, but the buy-in to Jones' culture is not sufficiently widespread throughout the entire roster to turn this from a talented group of individuals into a tight-knit team that plays complementary situational football with the necessary attention to detail. The requisite belief, confidence and mental toughness required to shake off adversity and keep going strong in the face of a loss or two are also lacking.
If and when the time comes when the 2016 Vols can no longer meet their lofty expectations, don't expect the same strong finish against the weak November portion of the schedule that the previous two Tennessee editions have managed. Once the serious prizes are out of reach, look for a bubble-burst collapse down the stretch, and send it in hard against this bunch the rest of the way.
Tennessee Volunteers
We've written a lot about bubble-burst teams over the years, and this year's top candidate is a Tennessee team that hasn't faced top-10 expectations since the Phil Fulmer era. Butch Jones has recruited well and built this roster, but talent alone doesn't win championships. We like the attitude and work ethic of the first string, and the top leaders are solid, but the buy-in to Jones' culture is not sufficiently widespread throughout the entire roster to turn this from a talented group of individuals into a tight-knit team that plays complementary situational football with the necessary attention to detail. The requisite belief, confidence and mental toughness required to shake off adversity and keep going strong in the face of a loss or two are also lacking.
If and when the time comes when the 2016 Vols can no longer meet their lofty expectations, don't expect the same strong finish against the weak November portion of the schedule that the previous two Tennessee editions have managed. Once the serious prizes are out of reach, look for a bubble-burst collapse down the stretch, and send it in hard against this bunch the rest of the way.
