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Watch to watch and who to root for if you're a Tennessee Volunteer football fan

By Joel Hollingsworth

Once again, here's what to watch and who to root for if you're a Tennessee Volunteer football fan.

What games to watch:

Thursday
  • South Carolina v. Auburn. On ESPN, now.
Saturday
  • Tennessee at Memphis, ESPN, 12:00.
  • Alabama at Florida, CBS, 3:30.
  • Ohio State at Iowa, ABC, 8:00.

What scores to watch and who to root for

The Tennessee Game
  • Tennessee at Memphis. ESPN, 12:00. Duh.

SEC v. SEC Games
  • South Carolina v. Auburn. Thursday, ESPN, 7:30. This one's tough. Auburn's up 14-10 24-10 going into the second half. Tennessee definitely doesn't want to fall behind or even be challenged by the Gamecocks in the East, but whomever wins the East probably wants to see somebody other than Auburn. On the other hand (the third?), if the East can upset the West for the SEC Championship, the win would look better over an undefeated, No. 2-ranked team. Vols probably need all the losses in the East they can get, so let's go with Auburn.
  • Alabama at Florida. CBS, 3:30. No question. Gators must lose two SEC games for the Vols to pull ahead. Roll Tide!
  • Georgia v. Ole Miss. As I said before, the Vols need all the losses in the East they can get. Especially when it comes to the Gatorses and the Dawgses.
  • LSU v. Mississippi State. While you're rooting against Georgia's Bulldogs, root for the MS Bulldogs.
SEC v. Other Conferences

Always root for the conference in these games . . . unless the SEC team is higher than UT in the polls [maybe, this is up for debate] . . . and unless it's Steve Spurrier [not up for debate].


  • Kentucky v. Central Michigan.
  • Vanderbilt v. Temple.

National Games of Interest

Always root against the teams higher than Tennessee in the polls.  If they're both higher, root against the highest-ranked team. Generally root for former opponents UT has beaten to make the win look more impressive.


  • Ohio State at Iowa. ABC, 8:00.
  • Southern Cal at Washington State. TBS, 7:00.
  • Clemson v. Louisiana Tech.ESPNU, 1:00.
  • Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech.ESPNU, 1:00.
  • Michigan at Minnesota.ESPN, 8:00.
  • Purdue at Notre Dame. NBC, 2:30.
  • Texas v. Sam Houston State.
  • BYU at TCU. This one's already over, and BYU did actually knock TCU, and its longest-in-the-nation winning streak, off.
  • Arizona State v. Oregon.
  • California at Oregon State.

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