Tennessee might or may not win the SEC East, but the Vols could go 2-0 in Conference USA's Eastern Division with wins the next couple weeks over Marshall and Memphis.

C-USA is 1-3 against Big Brother this season. The SEC's one blemish is a 32-29 Tulane victory over Mississippi State. Enter week four and three more SEC vs. C-USA matchups including the Vols and Herd on Homecoming 2006.

The word homecoming conjures up visions of the family returning home to Walton's Mountain. In terms of a football weekend, it's time to welcome back alumni to a place in time when all was good.

One loss and numerous questions later, anxiety has set back in on The Hill. Are the Vols as good as the team which beat Cal in the opener or as suspect as the team which struggled to finish strong against both Air Force and Florida? I'd say somewhere in between. But the question does remain: is this team poised and resilient enough to forget 5-6 and live up to the tradition symbolized by the Power T? Well that remains to be seen.

Confidence and success can't be taught, it must be earned one day at a time. Now that isn't a new concept, but it also isn't the easiest thing to do, or else everybody would be undefeated. Winning under pressure situations separates the good from the great teams. The Vols experienced such separation last week. The great Walter Payton said, "Never die easy." This Tennessee team has the chance to fight its way into that GREAT category.

In what is considered the ultimate team sport, heroes usually feel good about what they've accomplished, that's if there are eleven heroes on the field at one time.

Rick Russo is sports director for WVLT Volunteer TV Sports Overtime. Read his blog on govolsxtra.com.