re: Re-Evaluating the "BIG 6" of the SEC

quote:

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Tennessee has never been a blue blood.

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Tennessee was most certainly a blue blood in the days of General Neyland up through the early 1970s. They brought home the very first National Championship Trophy for the SEC in 1951.

In terms of AP performance, up through the year 1972, they also ranked higher than some of these blue bloods at the time:

TOTAL APPEARANCES IN AP TOP 25 THROUGH 1972:

318- Notre Dame
260- Ohio St.
259- Texas
253- USC
239- Michigan
227- Oklahoma
219- Tennessee
216- Alabama
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138- Nebraska

At the end of the '72 season, Tennessee had more Top 25 appearances than both Alabama and Nebraska.... way more than Nebraska.

Tennessee football was a blue blood that started slipping way back in about 1973..... they were revived under Fulmer from about 1995-2001.... but otherwise have been gradually slipping since the 1970s.

I don't believe they are a blue blood now, but to act as if they never were yet a program like Nebraska always has been is a take not based on reality.