If you piloted a jet from Atlanta to Miami, you would avoid turbulence by climbing to a smooth altitude.

If you planned a relaxing family vacation, you would choose Hilton Head over Baghdad every time.

If you charted an optimal course to college football's national championship game, you would dodge places called "The Swamp" and "Death Valley'' at all cost.

The last thing you'd do is schedule visits there on back-to-back Saturdays.

"We always take the approach that we don't make the schedule,'' Phillip Fulmer said. "We just play it.''

The schedule Tennessee must play in 2005 could turn out to be the most formidable in school history.

It happens to arrive as the Vols are stocked with both talent and experience. Thus, the schedule may be viewed as either a deathtrap for championship dreams or as a viable platform from which to fulfill them.

Fulmer, beginning his 13th full season as UT's head coach, acknowledges that having to play at Florida and LSU back-to-back in September, at Alabama (Oct. 22) and at Notre Dame (Nov. 5) constitutes a staggering challenge.

Aside from Georgia's Oct. 8 visit to Neyland Stadium, the Vols' most difficult foes must be faced on the road.

"I want to take the positive side of that,'' Fulmer said. "We've been a really good road team.

"I think we've got a mature-enough football team to do really well on the road.''

For the glass-half-full camp, facing ranked teams on the road is the ultimate opportunity, a built-in springboard to the top of the rankings.

Considering the Vols open No. 3 in the Associated Press poll, beating No. 10 Florida and No. 5 LSU on the road in September should give Tennessee an inside track to the Rose Bowl, site of the BCS national championship game.

"If you win those two games,'' said quarterback Erik Ainge, "you're second in the country behind USC, no matter what, until they lose.''

In Fulmer's mind, the back-to-back whammy isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"If we get through the first one,'' he said, "it'll be a plus for us.

"The kids will be focused and in tune to the challenge of being on the road and the travel.''

And for those whose glass is half empty, history says coming home from the Florida-LSU gauntlet unbeaten is almost unprecedented.

The last time UT beat ranked opponents on the road back-to-back was 1969. Even then, there was an open date between wins over No. 2 Alabama and No. 11 Georgia.

Speaking of Alabama, the Crimson Tide might well be a third ranked road opponent by the time the Vols get to Tuscaloosa.

Only four times in its history has Tennessee played three ranked opponents on the road in the same season. The best the Vols fared was 1-1-1 in 1964.

The 1991 team was up to No. 4 before losing at Florida and Alabama on back-to-back weeks. So much for SEC and national championship hopes.

However, since Fulmer assumed command on an interim basis in 1992 and for good in 1993, UT has the best road record in the SEC.

His mark against all ranked teams on the road is 11-7-1.

Last year, the Vols upset 12 1/2-point favorite Georgia in Athens. In 2003, they surprised 13-point favorite Miami, ending the Hurricanes' 26-game home winning streak.

In 2001, UT upended 18-point favorite Florida in The Swamp.

And don't forget a 34-31 win at Georgia in 1992. The Bulldogs were favored by 4 1/2 points, but the Vols carried the day for interim head coach Fulmer.

"That probably helped me be where I am today,'' Fulmer said. "I don't think there's any question about that.''

Somehow, the Vols have a knack for coming up with big plays to win the big road games.

• Ainge throwing two TD passes in his college road debut at Georgia last year.

• James Banks' Hail Mary TD catch at Florida in 2003.

• Jabari Greer's touchdown-saving tackle of Jarrett Payton at Miami.

• Buck Fitzgerald breaking up a two-point Florida conversion pass attempt in 2001.

• Heath Shuler's fourth-and-14 completion to Ronald Davis at Georgia in '92.

• Casey Clausen's fourth-and-19 completion in overtime at Alabama in '03.

"It's just the mindset not to be intimidated,'' said senior linebacker Kevin Simon.

"It's throwing out all the environment factors and saying the best team is going to win that day on the field. Bands, crowds and noise aside, the players play the game between the white lines, 11 on 11.''

As much as they enjoy Neyland Stadium, most Vols relish a hostile environment.

"I always play better on the road,'' said Ainge. "Whether it's basketball or football. Why? I don't know.

"When you're on the road, people are yelling and screaming and throwing stuff at you. I love that.''

It's a state of mind the UT staff cultivates.

"That's one of the winning edges we talk about,'' Fulmer said. "Neyland Stadium is special but those other places are special, too.

"When you play at Miami or Florida or Notre Dame or Georgia, it's hard to beat that kind of setting for college football.''

His record suggests Fulmer is a good road coach.

He says it's more that he has a good road staff.

"We've been together a long time,'' he said. "There's not many situations that you're going to panic.

"The kids feel that, not just on game day. They feel it every day. We're even-keeled. Therefore, when we travel, it's not this emotional peak that's strange to them.''

Consequently, winning isn't strange to them, either.

Since Steve Spurrier revived Florida in 1990, only Tennessee and Florida State have won two consecutive trips. Nobody has won three.

Tennessee has won its past two trips to Notre Dame, in 1991 and 2001. In the past 40 years, only Michigan State has won three consecutive visits.

The Vols are 3-0 at Alabama since the series moved from Birmingham to Tuscaloosa in 1999. Can they possibly make it four?

Considering the Tide fans' animosity towards Fulmer, Bryant-Denny Stadium will be a hornets' nest. Fulmer confesses he does have concerns:

"I'm concerned about Brodie Croyle and Charlie Peprah and that big defensive front.''

At LSU, where Nick Saban built a national championship program before departing, the Tigers have lost only twice at home in the past three years.

It all adds up to bucking a lot of history.

"We don't look at it that way,'' said Fulmer. "We look at it as a challenge.

"Even back in the spring we started addressing these things, about how focused we'll have to be.

"I believe we have a full understanding of that right now.''

As Simon says:

"I don't think about it as home or away. It's just us versus them.''

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276.