Live from SEC media days: Vols primed for breakout season? - STLtoday.com
• Last season, Tennessee beat only two power conference teams that finished with winning records: 7-6 South Carolina and 7-6 Iowa. Tennessee has become a trendy pick as the SEC’s breakout team in 2015, probably based more on winter Wednesdays than fall Saturdays. Jones’ last two Tennessee recruiting classes were ranked No. 5 nationally by Rivals. com and produced six five-star players and 29 four-star players. Only two schools finished with classes ranked higher than Tennessee each of the last two years: Alabama and Florida State. Is Tennessee a genuine threat to win the SEC East Division. To reach Atlanta for the first time since 2007, the Vols will have to slip past East favorite Georgia and two-time defending champion Missouri. The Vols have never finished higher than Mizzou in the SEC East standings since the Tigers joined the league in 2012 — MU is 3-0 against Tennessee — and have finished four games, on average, behind Georgia in league play the last three seasons. “The great thing and most challenging thing of the SEC is you never know what a long season is going to bring about,” Jones said. “I always tell our football team … the team that can manage the natural adversities that a long football season brings about will be the team that wins championships in December. Source: www.stltoday.com
