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All Hail, Tennessee Volunteers! Next stop, SEC Championship

By Shannon Sickmon

Sep 24, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Jalen Hurd (1) and Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Josh Malone (3) celebrate after Hurd scored a touchdown against the Florida Gators during the second quarter at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 24, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Jalen Hurd (1) and Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Josh Malone (3) celebrate after Hurd scored a touchdown against the Florida Gators during the second quarter at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Yes, Alabama is a huge hurdle,but Tennessee gave them trouble last year. This year’s Tennessee Volunteer team is even better, so expect the Vols to be facing the Tide at the SEC Championship game in Atlanta.

I said it at the beginning of the season, and I’m saying it again. The Tennessee Volunteers are going to be awesome. Yesterday’s game against the Florida Gators left the young team with a chance to regain what Volunteer fans see as their rightful destiny—a chance at the SEC title. Saturday’s matchup against Florida was as much as psychological game as it was a physical one, and Tennessee proved that they were finally up to the challenge.

I’m going to make a really bold statement here. Tennessee is going to win the SEC Championship. Yes, I know that Alabama is still a terrifying tornado of a team that destroys everything in its path. Yet Tennessee gave them a heck of a game last season, even leading for three of four quarters. Then the Vols finished the season with 9 straight wins. Coach Butch Jones has ensured that his team improves each year. This Volunteer team is even better than the 2015 one, and I am seeing them finish the season 11-1 with no problem this year.

The Vols were 9-4 last season, and played better than most of the teams that beat them. Many of those games, including the tight match against a top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners team, went down to the final, nail-biting minutes. The finished last season with 9 straight wins, which gives them one of the top win streaks in the country. In addition, they kept almost all of their talented starters from 2015.

The Volunteers have one of the best front seven in the nation with dual-threat QB Josh Dobbs and brilliant RBs Alvin Kamara and Jalen Hurd. The defense is tight with loads of talent, and Butch Jones is the type of coach that will capitalize on that.

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I realize that Alabama’s streak against Tennessee is almost as long as Florida’s—they have beaten the Vols 9 years in a row. I also know that Tennessee has a brutal 4-game stretch ahead of them. Nonetheless, I predict that this 2016 Volunteer team should come out of this season with no more than one loss.

Can Tennessee take down Alabama? If anyone can, it is this year’s Volunteer juggernaut.

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