I was giggling like an idiot when Wyoming beat Tennessee, because if I couldn’t laugh about this season then I’d be crying.
With another loss, the Vols would set the school record for losses at eight. You’ll read a lot of news articles that will breathlessly describe this team as the worst ever if that happens. Most of these people won’t mention that there are more games on the schedule now than there used to be, and therefore more opportunities to lose.
As I lay out in a post on Rocky Top Talk, I do think another loss cements this team as one of the three worst Tennessee teams of the modern era (which I’m marking as 1926 and after, when General Neyland was first hired). But, I think for this team to be indisputably the worst Tennessee team ever would require it to lose both games.
But what do I know? Let’s turn this over to the wisdom of crowds.
Which Tennessee team is the Worst Team Ever?
- 2008 even if it wins both remaining games (60%, 3 Votes)
- 2008 unless it wins both remaining games (40%, 2 Votes)
- 1962 (0%, 0 Votes)
- 1977 (0%, 0 Votes)
- 2008 unless it wins one more game (0%, 0 Votes)
- None of these (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 5
Loading ...Either way, this is a bad football team we’re talking about here.
Results
| Player | Points |
|---|---|
| Archibald Throngbow | 13 |
| Carl Lindecrantz | 10 |
| Ben K | 9 |
| rugbyfan | 9 |
| Rusty | 9 |
| Jen | 9 |
| Sara | 8 |
| Tony | 8 |
| griftdrift | 8 |
| Alyssa | 8 |
| Reginald | 7 |
| Tony Ventry | 6 |
| Garrett | 6 |
The full results spreadsheet for week 11 is here. If you find an error, let me know and I’ll adjust the results.
| Player | Points |
|---|---|
| Rusty | 107 |
| Carl Lindecrantz | 100 |
| Griftdrift | 96 |
| Ben K | 95 |
| Tony | 92 |
| Archibald Throngbow | 91 |
| Garrett | 91 |
| rugbyfan | 90 |
| Jen | 88 |
| Sara | 86 |
| Tony Ventry | 86 |
| Alyssa | 85 |
| Reginald | 78 |
The full overall standings with week-by-week scores can be found here. If you find an error, let me know and I’ll adjust the results.
Week 12 schedule
Note: 16th-ranked Ball State has a game on Tuesday. Including it is not worth giving people less than 24 hours notice to get their picks in. Besides, I can’t take a team that schedules games on Tuesdays seriously, even if they are ranked and even if they would beat Tennessee this year.
| Time | Game | Line |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00 PM ET | Cincinnati (22) at Louisville | Cincinnati by 3.5 |
| Time | Game | Line |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00 PM ET | Indiana at Penn State (8) | Penn State by 34 |
| 12:00 PM ET | Ohio State (10) at Illinois | Ohio State by 10 |
| 12:30 PM ET | Texas (5) at Kansas | Texas by 13.5 |
| 12:30 PM ET | Georgia (12) at Auburn | Georgia by 8 |
| 3:30 PM ET | Brigham Young (14) at Air Force | Brigham Young by 4 |
| 3:30 PM ET | North Carolina (17) at Maryland | North Carolina by 3 |
| 3:30 PM ET | California at Oregon State (25) | Oregon State by 3 |
| 3:30 PM ET | South Carolina (23) at Florida (3) | Florida by 21.5 |
| 6:30 PM ET | Missouri (11) at Iowa State | Missouri by 26.5 |
| 7:00 PM ET | Southern Cal (6) at Stanford | Southern California by 23.5 |
| 7:45 PM ET | Mississippi State at Alabama (1) | Alabama by 20 |
| 8:00 PM ET | Utah (7) at San Diego State | Utah by 28.5 |
| 8:00 PM ET | Oklahoma State (13) at Colorado | Oklahoma State by 17.5 |
| 8:00 PM ET | Boston College at Florida State (19) | Florida State by 7 |
| 8:00 PM ET | Troy at Louisiana State (20) | Louisiana State by 20 |
| 8:00 PM ET | Tulsa (24) at Houston | Tulsa by 6 |
Game of the Week
This might be the weakest slate of games the entire year. I’m defaulting to Florida vs. South Carolina because of the Spurrier facing his old team angle, and because South Carolina might be good enough to give Florida a little trouble. But only a little.
The only other good news is that a weak slate of games like this sometimes makes for wildly inaccurate lines, which ought to at least make the picks fun.
How to enter your picks
You read the rules, right?
The short version:
- You’re picking which teams won’t cover their spread. You must choose at least one team not to cover unless there is only one game being played that week.
- You’re also entering a predicted score for the Game of the Week, which cannot be the same as a predicted score another player enters.
Example:
Florida and Clemson don’t cover. Alabama wins the GOTW 19-14.
If I entered that, that means I think Florida and Clemson either would lose or not cover their spreads, and you then wouldn’t be able to predict a 19-14 win for Alabama.
Penn, Florida, Alabama and Florida state will not cover.
GOTW: South Carolina 23 Florida 21 November 11th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
UNC, USC, Tulsa and Oregon State don’t cover. GOTW USC 14, UF 41. November 12th, 2008 at 8:19 am
Won’t cover:
penn state
UNC
UF
‘Bama
GOTW - UF 35 - USC 10 November 12th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Will Not Cover: Penn St.; BYU; Oregon St.; Florida; Florida St.;LSU
GOTW: Florida 35 S. Carolina 17 November 12th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Florida, Bama and LSU don’t cover.
GOTW Florida 31, South Carolina 17 November 13th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Ugh. Remember when I was in first place? It is now clear that this was just an anomaly.
A few weeks of getting burned on Georgia picks has me wary of even the eight point spread on our game, but I’ll stick with the Dawgs and hope for the best.
To not cover: Florida, FSU, and BYU. November 13th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
GotW Florida 27, South Carolina 14 November 13th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Won’t Cover: Penn St, BYU, Oregon State, Florida State, Florida, LSU
GOTW: Gators 3, Cocks 7 November 13th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Damn, Tanton. You’ve got a pretty all-encompassing definition of “modern era” in college football. I think at a minimum, modern era has to be post-WWII, so anything from 1946 to present day. But my own definition of modern era in college football is 1960 through present day. That covers 49 seasons (including the current 2008 campaign). November 13th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Blue,
For the sake of comparing records for a “worst ever” list I wanted to span “anything that wouldn’t be a ridiculous comparison.”
I probably shouldn’t have called it a “modern era” so much as a “when Tennessee started taking football seriously” era. November 13th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Only FSU covers. November 13th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Only FSU covers.
GOTW: UF team gets DQed for academics on Friday, forfeits game. November 13th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Cincinnati, Bama, LSU and FSU don’t cover.
GOTW: Florida 42, SCar 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foGHh14uvKk November 14th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Ha, I like what showed up in the related videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnsDAuifqD8 November 14th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Doesn’t cover: Cincy, Georgia, Alabama
GOTW: Devils lizards 49 Cocks 10 November 14th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Penn State, Ohio State, Bama, LSU
GOTW: Florida 42-17 November 14th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Florida, Bama, LSU, Cincy, and FSU don’t cover.
GotW: 42-20 November 14th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Late again. This is 3 straight week I’ve missed the first pick but seeing how I’ve won the last 2 weeks maybe it’s not a bad thing.
Not covering: Oregon St, Florida, Florida St
Game o’ the week: UF 31, SC 17 November 15th, 2008 at 11:13 am