re: 2024 Tennessee Football - This is who you should expect to be

We literally only lose to UK in football whenever we actually prefer defeat to victory haha.

2011, 2017, 2020 BS covid year in an empty Neyland stadium. That's it. And for all 3 of those losses to UK football in my 30+ years living on this planet most of the TN fanbase were actually cheering for defeat to Kentucky because we knew it would usher in a much needed change. I've literally never witnessed a Tennessee/Kentucky football game where our head coach's job status is fine. Proabably never will. Kentucky never fails to tighten up and have the mental yips when they play us in football.

Seriously though, when was the last time Kentucky defeated Tennessee in a year where Tennessee didn't have a head coach already half way out the door with the writing on the wall? Early 80s? I certainly wasn't on this planet for it.

The UK game when they came into Knoxville ranked in the top 10 in 2018 only to have one of the worst teams in program history led by Jarret Guarantano and Jeremy freaking Pruitt walk the dog all day long on them was a great metaphor of this rivalry in football between us.

Was easily one one of the funniest wins over them. You'd have thought we just beat Austin Peay or some FCS opponent as we were all walking out back to the cars from the stadium. Such a ho-hum and "meh" reaction despite beating a top 10 "unexpectedly". Beating Kentucky football head to head just be how it is. No need to dance in the streets for it

It would be a lot spicier of a football rivalry game if UK could ever beat Tennessee in a game every now and then besides those mere 3 years where most of us Vols were actually cheering with yall to beat us. Kinda like how Tennessee basketball will routinely collect a Kentucky basketball scalp (or even two occasionally haha) each year despite yall being big Mighty Kentucky basketball and us being wee lil ole Final Four-less Tennessee basketball.

But hey, we can't do nuttin about it except show up each fall vs UK already knowing we are about to win that game yet again...balls in yalls court 'Tucky. Start beating us in football more often like we will beat yall in basketball fairly often. Hasn't been a back and forth rivalry series since Bear was at UK in the 50s.

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We have beaten y'all from to time to time. The problem is we don't do it enough. So, I get it. It sux but it is what it is.

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You’ve beaten us five times since Jimmy Carter was president.

40 years since Kentucky had a football team last defeat a TN football team that didn't have a dead man walking head coach roaming our sideline. Beat an unranked rebuilding 1984 VOLS team 17-12! (Yippee for being not born yet though haha, woulda sucked to have had to live thru that one as a Vol)

It's a shame for them that our game isn't in Lexington this year. Would be cool to see a 4oth year reunion celebration of that legendary Kentucky team. Even as a Vol fan it would be cool to be there in person and see those old ball Kentucky football alums receive a standing ovation thru a commercial break while we all watch a montage of grainy clips highlighting that glorious victory for UK over an unranked middle of the pack 1984 Tennessee football program.

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Yes and that sux. We've had a better team for most of those years.

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I mean you all had a handful or two of teams that were on paper "better" than us record/ranking/wise heading into our last game/final season rankings in the last half decade or so, sure....but....pretty sure Tennessee is nearly always the more talented squad on paper between the two.

Are you actually of the belief that Kentucky football has fielded "a better team" thru the majority of those years" from the Carter admin until present day?

Because rivalry teasing set aside, objectively speaking that is simply not true. Like, I get 2010-2020 were our dark ages in football overall...but man bold arse statement there homie. Those mid 80s/late80s/1990s/early-mid 2000 teams were a TAD more talented and ultimately outright "better" than what Kentucky football was bringing to the table all of those seasons. Would be like me saying Tennessee basketball teams have been "more talented" than Kentucky's basketball team on avg the last 50 years. Which of course would not be true.

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5-2 record in the last 7 games with only an average margin of victory by ~5pts

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Our average margin of victory over the past seven games is 13.6, not 5. You don’t know what margin of victory means, do you?

Not if you factor in during that period UT getting blown out in one of the games

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And Kentucky IMO

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