No UT vs UNC? Here are my thoughts…
In this world I learned at an early age, thanks to my dad and grandpa, that some things are better off just not said, Yesterday, as I was cyber strolling, I came across an article that proves my case entirely. It was on the WRAL web site, where Austin Ward (GoVolsXtra) decided to explain why the University of Tennessee is backing out from the home and home with North Carolina. And before I go on with the story let me just say this, no one is going to back me away from the fact that while UT is a member of the SEC they rather get an easy out of conference game to put themselves close to a bowl game than going against an up and coming squad like North Carolina. Having said all of this let’s proceed with this story…
“I don’t mean to insult North Carolina fans here but the perception is if you go play a basketball school or an ACC school, and they’re close to you regionally, there’s more to gain for North Carolina than Tennessee,” Ward said. “It’s sort of like, and this is a stretch, when you play those FCS teams and they have everything to gain, it’s their Super Bowl and they come out really charged up. There’s no big benefit. You’re supposed to beat them if you’re Tennessee and if you lose there’s the embarrassment factor.”
So, cutting to the chase, Mr. Ward believes that playing UNC is like playing an FCS team? And furthermore that when one team plays another there is more to gain from one side than the other? If the first comment didn’t make you speechless, the second one should have. Maybe, just maybe, if this discussion was made when Carolina was in the old regime and Tennessee was one of the top dogs of their conference I could see how a Tar Heel upset ala Miami in `06 could hurt the Vols a lot. But now, in 2010, Carolina is an emerging squad, looking to be amongst the top of its conference while Tennessee is not the powerhouse it once was. The reality of this is that the Vols do not want the Heels so they can get an easy win, not so they can avoid an upset that would be the lead story on SportsCenter that night. Or, in other words, Carolina is no where close to a FCS team, but Tennessee might be close to being below average in the SEC and is trying to hide it from themselves and the fan base.
Now to the second sentence. So, in a game one team has more to gain/lose than the other. And when did this become anything new? Someone should have told Alabama this when they had to play the Vols in the middle of the year with UT being a .500 team. A loss by the Tide there would have definitely took them out of national title contention! When you add it up this is a team that has a 22 and 17 record in the last three seasons (with one losing one) saying that losing to a team that has a 20 and 18 record (1 losing season) in the same length of time would be shocking. Heck, losing to that team would be embarassing! I got one sentence for all of this: get over yourselves! This is not the UNC of old and it is not definitely the UT of old.
Go play the University of Buffalo, and if you lose there then we can all be truly shocked and ESPN can have a great time reporting it that night. Cause, last I knew, no one forced the Vols to sign on the dotted line for this home and home series. Backing out of this, for whatever reason, makes the SEC program look weak, and while I am not sure it will cost them in recruiting or prestige, it sure will cost them in how some teams might think of them when setting up series. Sure, in a decade Tennessee could once again be riding high and be on top of the Southeastern Conference, but for now all they are doing is showing that they are scared of not making a bowl game in years to come. If that is the way to get top players to come to your program I guess head coach Butch Davis has been doing it all wrong at UNC. On the other hand, I think it is Carolina doing it right and Tennessee doing it wrong, and that is a shame for the ones like me that look forward to a good SEC/ACC match up!
To end this post of mine let me also say this, dear Mr. Ward, you did offend me in what you said. Cause you are assuming that your program is better than mine, and I do not see it that way. Not to offend you I think that U of B is a lot easier road for your on the downswing program than UNC would have been, end of story.
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