The Goat Pen

MUSCHAMP!!

It will be a good thing when UF and UT get back to respectability. It's not right to let UGA breeze through the season with so little competition in the East. Dawg fans are getting delusions of grandeur.

Well, at least with UF, there's a recent memory of them being very good. With UT, we're going on 2 decades of mediocrity. Doesn't seem like much has changed this season...

Tenn was good most years until around 2007. Only a couple of bad years from 1989 to 2007.

From 1995-2007 Tennessee's win% was 4th in the nation. Only Ohio State, Florida, and VaTech had a better record.

In the 20 seasons from 1988-2007, Tennessee was 6th in the nation in win%.

Breaking the new century up:

From 2000-2007 Tenn was 16th in the nation in win%.

From 2008-2013 Tenn was 84th in the nation in win%.


I think that clearly shows when the wheels completely came off.

Well, I did say "going on 2 decades". Clearly their teams from the mid-90's were top notch. But starting with the 2000 season (new century, new millennium, whatever), which is going on 2 decades (15 seasons, including this one), they have been significantly worse than UF. And it's not like they were significantly better (if at all) than UF during the glory decade of the 90's. I suspect some UF fans would argue that they were better overall in the 90's than UT was. But since 2000? Not even close...

I know what you said. I just disagree. In 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2007 they won 10+ games. In my book, they had a decent collection of successful seasons in that timeframe. 2008 and after is when they truly went sour.

Now, if you had said "Tennessee has sucked ass for the better part of the last decade" I would have agreed.

Since the 2000 season, UT has been to 9 bowl games and lost 6, to the likes of KState, Maryland and (ahem) UNC. And I don't think even the most jaded UT fan is going to count Penn State's vacated win over them as a victory. Meanwhile, in that span, UF has also lost 6 bowl games, but they won 7, including a Sugar Bowl, an Orange Bowl and 2 BCS championships. That's all I was saying when I responded to Prof's post about UT and UF "returning to respectability", i.e., that UF's wouldn't be so much a return as just picking up where they recently left off (if they can manage it), whereas UT will be returning from a significantly long drought of such type seasons...

9 bowls since 2000, when they stopped being decent after 2007, tends to prove my point. Thank you.

Yeah, there have been some bright spots, as you mention, but 10-4 is just barely above their overall historical winning percentage. The two 10-3 seasons and definitely the 11-2 season were highlights, but over a 15 year span, those few sips of relative glory aren't really going to slake the thirst of a fan base like UT's. That'd be like giving a shot of booze to a raging alcoholic and then cutting him off for 2 years. And, as you noted, cutting him off completely since 2008....

What is your point? That UT has had a few decent teams since 2000?

My point was that there's no comparison b/w UF and UT in the past 15 or so years. You didn't say anything about that. As far as any new point you may have made (see above), I don't think anyone would argue that UT hasn't had a few pretty good teams in that span. So, well, good point...

My point is that Tennessee was decent most of the years from 2000-2007. In those years they went to 3 SECCGs and 7 bowl games. Therefore the "last two decades" line was inaccurate.

Bowl stats don't really count anymore since there are 125 of them now.

Which makes 6 losses in low-level bowls look even worse...

"My point is that Tennessee was decent most of the years from 2000-2007."

So by your own standard, they were "decent" for "most" of the years from 2000-2007, and have sucked ass since then, but yet you want to quibble about me saying they're "going on 2 decades of mediocrity"? You must be bored this morning...

Would you have felt better if I'd said "UT is going on 2 decades of being decent at best, and, really, worse than that in most years"? I just felt like "mediocrity" was more succinct...