This is the 10th anniversary of Tennessee's title run. I don't think people really appreciate how good that team was. They beat #17 Syracuse, #2 Florida, #7 UGA, #10 Arkansas, #23 Miss St, and #2 FSU in the title game. Those teams finished #25, #5, #14, #16, unranked, and #3 respectively in the final AP poll. I am unaware of any National Champion who beat 6 ranked teams. The '98 Vols are ranked by computers #2 all-time behind the '71 Cornhuskers.
Tennessee had an efficient offense and a smothering defense. As I recall, no tailback had a 100-yard game against Tennessee including Shaun Alexander. Tennessee gave up less than 2 TD's per game and scored 32.8 per game against 9 SEC opponents. This was made possible by the amount of talent on both sides of the ball.
Starters that made NFL rosters:
Tee Martin
Travis Henry **
Jamal Lewis **
Travis Stephens
Shaun Bryson *
Peerless Price *
Cedrick Wilson *
David Martin *
Chad Clifton **
Cosey Coleman *
Shaun Ellis **
Darwin Walker *
Corey Terry
Al Wilson **
Raynoch Thompson *
Eric Westmorelant *
DWayne Goodrich *
Andre Lott
Deon Grant *
Jeff Hall
19 players in all. That's an NFL player from at least 16 of the 22 starting positions. That's not even mentioning the several reserves who ended up playing in the NFL such as: Eric Parker, Donte' Stallworth, Fred Weary, Will Overstreet, etc. 28 players were drafted, 29 made NFL rosters. It was an awesome team.
This upcoming season reminds me of the 1998 team. Our pre-season ranking is in the teens. Just like in 1998 we lost our stars on both sides of the ball Manning/Ainge and Little/Mayo, but we have 17 returning starters (6 All-SEC), with a great crop of RB's, WR's, OL, DB's and DT's coming back. We have a new O-coordinator. All the new starters will be players that have experience and were coveted recruits (Crompton was the #2 QB in his class). McCoy will have a breakout season, similar to Al Wilson, Lucas Taylor reminds me of Peerless Price, and let's be honest, when have we ever had a playmaker like Eric Berry? The current team has 12-18 starters and major contributors that I could see making NFL rosters. The biggest problem is we are playing Florida and UGA who both did very well last year, and are both returning many starters. We have the talent and the coaching to go all the way. If we find a way to win those close ones like in '98, we will go all the way. Go Vols!* NFL Starter
** Pro Bowler
