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Job #1 this week, of course, is to beat 'Bama. Do that, and everything else should pretty much just fall right into place. Contingency Plan B, though, involves rooting for some others to help improve our standing and our chances the rest of the way. So here's this week's TV schedule and rooting guide, curated just for Vols fans.
Wednesday, 10/12/16
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TV / Online |
|---|---|---|
| Appalachian State at UL Lafayette | 8:00 pm | ESPN2 / WatchESPN |
This one's just for fun. Go Mountaineers. Keep making us look good.
Friday, 10/14/16
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TV / Online |
|---|---|---|
| Duke at (7) Louisville | 7:00 pm | ESPN / WatchESPN |
Root for Coach Cut here to pull off the upset of Louisville, who's ranked ahead of the Vols.
Saturday, 10/15/16
Noon slate
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TV / Online |
|---|---|---|
| NC State at (3) Clemson | Noon | ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 |
| Vanderbilt at Georgia | Noon | SECN / WatchESPN |
Not a lot to see here, which is good because we'll all be traveling to Neyland, right? Right?
Root for NC State to take out Clemson. Hey, it could happen. They are 4-1 and did just beat Notre Dame. Yeah, it's a longshot.
The Vandy-Georgia game is more of a Pooh stoutness exercise for the afternoon than it is a true fan-scouting game of Vanderbilt. But if you're not doing anything else, you might as well have it on.
Afternoon slate
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TV / Online |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Alabama at (9) Tennessee | 3:30 pm | CBS / Stream |
| Kansas at (11) Baylor | 3:30 pm | FS1 / FS Go |
| (10) Nebraska at Indiana | 3:30 pm | ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 |
| North Carolina at (16) Miami, FL | 3:30 pm | ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 |
| Wake Forest at (14) Florida State | 3:30 pm | ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 |
| (17) Virginia Tech at Syracuse | 3:45 pm | ESPNU / WatchESPN |
| Missouri at (18) Florida | 4:00 pm | SECN / WatchESPN |
All hands on deck at Neyland Stadium at 3:30 on Saturday, okay? During timeouts, it's okay to watch the score scrolls and hope to see Kansas, Indiana, North Carolina, and Wake Forest pull off upsets. You know, just in case we need them. Win, and they won't matter.
The big one to scoreboard-watch, though, is Missouri at Florida. Pull for Missouri there to give the Vols some cushion against the Gators and make the whole hurricane conversation moot.
Virginia Tech is getting to be interesting. Vols fans generally want non-SEC East teams Tennessee has beaten to keep winning afterwards, but we don't want them to jump us in the polls just because we have to play in the SEC, either. Whether we have one or two losses after this week will have some impact on how we view the Hokies going forward.
Evening slate
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TV / Online |
|---|---|---|
| (12) Ole Miss at (22) Arkansas | 7:00 pm | ESPN / WatchESPN |
| Stanford at Notre Dame | 7:30 pm | NBC / Stream |
| (2) Ohio State at (8) Wisconsin | 8:00 pm | ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 |
Root for Wisconsin against Ohio State as the first infusion of chaos into the Big 10.
The Ole Miss-Arkansas game could be fun to watch, but will likely have no impact on the Vols, so root for personal preferences there. The Stanford-Notre Dame game had some appeal at some point but not so much now.