Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Tennessee falls short of expectations during the regular season but wins the bowl game in impressive fashion to gain positive momentum heading into the offseason.
It happened two years ago when a 6-6 Tennessee team surprised everybody by handling Iowa, 45-28, in the TaxSlayer Bowl. Last year, the Volunteers lost four games by a combined 17 points, but all was forgiven after a dominant 45-6 win over Northwestern in the Outback Bowl. They quickly became the team to beat in the East for 2016.
Tennessee didn’t win the East in 2016, though.