Tennessee's last losing football season wasn't all bad. At least, it led to something better.

After finishing 5-6 in 1988, UT rebounded to win 11 of 12 games and finish fifth nationally in 1989. If it could happen once, it could happen again, right?

You don't have to answer right away. Just think about it while you're warming up to Saturday's season-ender in Lexington, Ky.

If mixing one season with another makes you uncomfortable, go ahead and focus on the UT-Kentucky game, which will determine who finishes fifth and sixth in the SEC East. But I find 2006 more compelling than fifth and sixth.

Is a comparable turnaround to 1988-89 possible?

Why not? Vanderbilt just beat UT in football. This obviously is no time for limiting possibilities.

Possibilities will abound in the SEC in 2006. There's no clearly dominant team, no obvious picks to win the two divisions.

And there's plenty of room for upward mobility.

Georgia loses quarterback D.J. Shockley, All-American offensive guard Max Jean-Gilles, and three-fourths of its secondary and front four on defense. Florida's offense remains a mess in progress. And as much as South Carolina over-achieved in Steve Spurrier's first year as head coach, it still has a talent gap to overcome.

The West should be as wide open as the East. Frontrunners LSU, Auburn and Alabama will suffer key losses on defense. Arkansas, which returns 19 starters, could contend for the division title.

The long-range traffic report for the drive to the 2006 championships calls for heavy congestion. And UT could be stuck right in the middle.

Try picking a preseason All-SEC team for 2006. But also try being objective. How many Vols would you put on it?

Defensive tackle Justin Harrell probably would make the first team. Offensive tackle Arron Sears and offensive guard Rob Smith would make the first or second team. But who else?

Wide receivers? Just kidding.

Quarterbacks? Still kidding.

Running backs? That's at least worth exploring. Tailback Arian Foster has blossomed following a season-ending injury to Gerald Riggs, but he's not an obvious pick.

Auburn's Kenny Irons and Arkansas' Darren McFadden likely will be the preseason All-SEC running backs. Foster, Georgia's Danny Ware and Thomas Brown, Alabama's Ken Darby, Kentucky's Rafael Little, LSU's Alley Broussard (returning from an injury), and Ole Miss' Mico McSwain would all merit consideration.

UT won't have a defensive back as good as South Carolina's Ko Simpson or a linebacker as good as Ole Miss' Patrick Willis. It won't have a wide receiver like South Carolina's Sidney Rice or a tight end like Georgia's Leonard Pope.

Early exits to the NFL could improve UT's chances -- provided, of course, Harrell, Smith and Sears aren't among them. But no matter what happens elsewhere, UT rarely has had so much work to do in the off-season.

Coach Phillip Fulmer will have to hire an offensive coordinator and reshuffle his coaching staff. The front seven on defense must be rebuilt. Another quarterback competition is scheduled for the spring (Isn't it always?). And -- here's the really tough part -- UT will have to find a way to win when it doesn't have a decided advantage in talent.

More innovation would help. So might more discipline.

If that's asking too much, then it's not too early to look for excuses. Next year's schedule would be a good place to start.

The Vols will open the season against Cal; play two of their three toughest SEC East games -- South Carolina and Georgia -- on the road; and face Alabama, LSU and Arkansas from the West.

Hmmm. That schedule has me wondering: Maybe it really is best to take one season at a time.

UT vs. Kentucky should be quite a game.