Around the Mountain: “Tennessee Will Beat Alabama”

Every week, we will try to update some quick topics/talking points about the Vols as often as we can. Here are some of the hot topics surrounding the Big Orange so far this week:

Tennessee Will Beat Alabama, According to Terry Bradshaw.

Although he is known to be eccentric and over-opinionated at times, Terry Bradshaw has recently been quoted stating that the Vols will beat Alabama in 2017. And not just beat, but “they will walk all over them”.

After taking the Tide to the wire in Tuscaloosa in 2015, the Vols were expected to finally rid the room of the proverbial (and literal, in this case) elephant in 2016. Well, we all know how that turned out.

Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

So what makes Bradshaw so confident it will work out this year the way he envisions? Well, it seems as if he were making light of the topic more than anything, but Bradshaw is about as predictable as Tennessee weather.

He even added later that Saban’s salary due to his contract extension was “shameful”.

The “Blonde Bomber” really seems to never run out of anything to say.

Butch Jones has Preds Fever.

Head Coach Butch Jones was in Nashville on Monday, and he took some time to discuss the recent success of the Nashville Predators, his attendance at Bridgestone Arena, and the fact that he is still learning the rules of hockey, despite hailing from Michigan.

Last year, Jones was spotted sporting a Preds jersey during the Big Orange Caravan, so we know is he aligned faithfully with the team. However, he has yet to make it to a postseason game this year.

That bodes well for the Vols, knowing that he has fully immersed himself in preparing UT for the upcoming season, but an appearance at Bridgestone would put a nice touch on Butch’s trip to the capitol.

The Amazing Story of Christian Coleman.

University of Tennessee athletes are used to being in the spotlight, however one major feat went unnoticed back in March. But, it wasn’t because of a lack of coverage.

After the NFL Draft, the Vols track and field team released a video of star runner Christian Coleman running the 40-yard dash around 4.12 seconds. The fastest time ever recorded at the NFL Draft was John Ross at 4.22 seconds.

This was a week after Coleman won the Men’s 60-meter and 200-meter dash in program-record times. On May 15th, he cleaned up in the SEC outdoor track and field championship in Atlanta, winning both the 100-meter and 200-meter dash.

The video of Coleman’s forty-time went viral of course, to no one’s surprise. It even prompted a funny Twitter exchange between UT Football Head Coach Butch Jones and Track and Field Director Beth Alford-Sullivan:

Coleman was named SEC co-runner of the week in early May and is just the eighth runner in history to run the 100-meter in under 10 seconds and the 200-meter in under 20 seconds on the same day.

Lindl Draws Her Match

Some big news came out of the Ladies Tennis program today, as senior Brittany Lindl found out who her first opponent would be in the NCAA Singles Championships.

She goes up against Baylor's Blair Shankle, the No. 5 seed, at 8 a.m. CT on Wednesday.

Lindl is currently ranked 42nd in the nation in singles, and has compiled 17 wins in singles and seven ranked wins as UT's top player during her senior season.

Softball Team Makes Another Trip To NCAA Super Regionals

May we have another, please? The Vols softball team, currently ranked at number eight in the country, made it to their fifth Super Regionals in six years on Sunday after defeating Longwood, 3-0.

Junior shortstop Meghan Gregg tied the UT single season RBI record in the win, and is now only 13 home runs short of tying the all-time leader Tonya Callahan. And she still has her entire senior season to play.

This is the eighth time in program history the Vols went undefeated during an NCAA Regionals Tournament. They were able to reach the Women’s College World Series in six out of the seven previous instances.

The Vols will look to continue their run on Friday against Texas A&M at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.

That’s about it for today’s roundup, check back in as the week progresses for more quick hits!