Tennessee's regular-season finale might have lost some luster.
But the Vols will still close out coach Lane Kiffin's first year in primetime.
The SEC announced kickoff times for the final week of the season on Monday, and after a disappointing loss to Ole Miss over the weekend, UT will tee it up with rival Kentucky under the lights on ESPNU at 7 p.m.
The Vols (5-5, 2-4 SEC) are doing the same this week at home against Vanderbilt, and they still need at least a split over the next two games to clinch bowl eligibility. A sweep would likely make them a strong candidate for the Chick-fil-A Bowl and possibly a target for the Outback Bowl.
Tennessee 69, South Carolina 57 men's…
Vanderbilt 65, Tennessee 47, Jan. 24…
Signing day celebration at Neyland…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 36
6MillionDollarPumpkin writes:
ESPNU is not in HD on DircTV......DAMN!!!
TDTenn writes:
I'm not worried about not going to the Outback bowl. It's one of the first games on New Year's, and by the end of the day, it's overshadowed and forgotten. The only downside is not being able to play in Florida and missing out on that exposure. Nationally, I think the Chick-fil-a bowl will have more ratings because of its time slot.
chad_t31 writes:
After being home for the holidays last yr and seeing what Michigan is going through, I'll gladly take either of those two bowl games at this point.
navarrebeachvol writes:
greeeat....nightitme in Kentucky at Thanksgiving. be about 30 degrees at kickoff.
tedstryker1980 writes:
I have been a Vol fan since attending boarding school in east Tennessee long ago. I think the people of the region are the friendliest I have met anywhere in the country. The Ole Miss game was extremely disappointing. As a TCU alumnus this is one of the few years in my life I am more interested in the remainder of my Horned Frogs season than my Vols. That said the future looks bright for both programs. Go Vols! Go Frogs!
the10sevol writes:
i'm with you, bigg. any bowl is a good bowl this year.
GBO
VolunteerLifer writes:
Bingo. In a transition year, you take what you can get and then say, "thank you."
Spyguy writes:
For all of you out there who are saying that CLK should kick the players off immediately, check out this article: http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?... --Current star player for UT (Rico Mccoy) involved in gun issue. His situation seemed like the same as Jackson's deal! CLK is doing the right thing, just trust him!
TommyJack writes:
ditto
golfballs03 writes:
There are several bowl projections that have UT going to the Outback bowl. It has to do with Ole Miss likely going to the Cotton Bowl.
MoneyBaby writes:
...Need to get a win the ga dome house of horrors to erase the Foolmore memory of that place
--- Bingo. The dome has not been kind to UT in ANY sport in a long long time.
bigorange101582 writes:
I went to the Maryland game as well and yes it was painful. (Also, couldn't believe how bad the Maryland fans were.)
I live about 25 minutes from Clemson and would love to play them in bowl as long as we could win. When we played them a few years ago in the Peach Bowl we were a much better team than them but we lost that game. I cannot handle Clemson beating us again or another ACC team for that matter. Clemson fans are getting the big head now that they are #23 and going to be playing in the ACC championship game for the first time ever. (BTW what was first year of ACC championship game?) They have no idea what it is like to play in the SEC. Well except for the beat down AL gave them last yr. LOL! As much as I hate USC, I hope they beat Clemson. GO SEC and GBO!
micbrooks#212023 writes:
We need to play some team that we can beat!!!!! Those three would probably beat us. Main thing is the practice time you get as a result of going bowling. I would take the Music City jus tto get a win and the practice, but of course there is always the prestige of a bigger bowl to consider too. We are just too thin and have too many injuries too. Music City would essentially be a home game for us.
OMEN1618 writes:
Good Omen for vols to play in any bowl other than last years coveted TOILET BOWL!!! GO VOLS!!!
Rocky_Top writes:
Actually, Comcast does provide ESPN U in HD. Not sure about DirecTV though. Every single game this year has been available in HD - only Ohio was not provided with cable channels, but even it, in PPV, was HD. I LOVE the new deal with ESPN. Probably a contributing factor to attendance sliding in Neyland a bit though . . .
Rocky_Top writes:
I think it will be nearly impossible for Tennessee to go to the Outback after the Ole Miss loss. It's possible that Outback/Cotton choose Auburn/Ole Miss in some form. Even though both are in the SEC West, I don't think the Outback is precluded from picking a West team. Keep in mind also though that South Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky are all already bowl eligible too (and currently ranked ahead of Tennessee in the SEC East). Whether Tennessee is in the Peach bowl, or gets bumped to the Liberty/Gaylord Hotels Bowl selection is largely up to those teams the next couple of weeks as well.
VOLinATL writes:
I agree...night games against marginal opponents will keep crowds down, especially in November.
vol88 writes:
it's not on Charter, period!
FDGVOL writes:
Fire Lincoln, The twins and Art Evans!!!!!!!!
tnmantravel#531151 writes:
wow....game at night in lexington, ky on espnu......so frickin' what?
crappieking writes:
Ahh Yes. Look who's back. Da "I sleep with a" Man. Always refreshing to hear from you. We will better next year moron. Wait and see.
crappieking writes:
Good to hear from you UTBF. It has been a while. Ill parent out of town. No matter how long I stay away, I can see trolls like DaMan are still lurking our boards. GO VOLS!!!
atlvolsfan writes:
CHIC FIL A !!! In my backyard!! I know the VOL faithful will be about 80% of the crowd in that one too. The last time I saw the VOLS play at the dome was the SEC championship against LSU and their fans were non-existent. It looked like a smaller version of a home game for us. GBO!!!
ETownVol writes:
ESPNU is in Charter's digital sports package. Channel 302 in the Kingsport/Johnson City areas. Not sure of pricing for that package though.
MemphisVol1485 writes:
Is it not?? We just switched to DirectTV this week...FML
volsbandit writes:
the state of college football has already fell in deep with teams being in bowl games that shouldn't be there.
sitinhere writes:
I think we can beat Candy, they have more injuries than us but I hope we don't lose the streak to KY. I'm only slightly worried because of the mounting injuries/dismissals on defense.
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
Not sure I want to see us face another ACC team; Bad Karma or something..The ACC has come along way in the last 3 years;Now even teams like NC; Wake Forest and now Duke are solid teams; I don't know if FSU will be bowl eligible but a UT vs FSU rematch in any bowl would be a lot of fun.
Vol_in_Mich writes:
For right now just beat Vandy. Worry about Ky. next week then a bowl if we win out. The Vols are running out of players. We can loose if not focused, way too many distractions.
GO VOLS!!!
navarrebeachvol writes:
sadly, a 20% crowd of cajuns makes more noise than the 80% Vol fans. I've been to all 17 SEC Champs and the LSU faithful could teach the "sit on my hands" Vol fans a thing or two about crowd support.......
givehim6 writes:
I said after the USC win UT would likely end up in the chick-fil-a bowl. I think UT will get a W against Vandy to be bowl eligible. UK will give us a game due to our beat up D. Just wished I had ESPNU. But GO VOLS! And win out!
ellerbee123 writes:
I certainly don't want the Bowl game we played in last year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bolliniu#329476 writes:
I think we better see if we're bowl eligible first and don't count our horses YET Which UT team will show up for both remaining games? I predict a split 6W 6l
pdhuff#552644 writes:
I swore after the Maryland debacle I'd never go back to the Dome in Atl.
Might quiver on this one if we make it and have ANY healthy LB's.
ncvol17 writes:
woo hoo... we hae ESPNU in HD on Time Warner... I guess it is good we got an ACC game instead of the debacle of Mississippi.
ncvol17 writes:
Break out those VOL parkas everyone buys at the bookstore..football was made for chilly weather...ask Michigan, ND, OSU, Colorado, et all.......
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