I'm having trouble tempering my excitement and it's only the first week of June. Not good.
The only thing that puts a damper on things is the fact that I don't have the time or resources to travel to away games and our home schedule this season absolutely S-U-C-K-S. (For once, I really wish the Ol' Ball Coach was influential enough to win over his fellow coaches and we could add a 9th game to the SEC schedule. Putting a bunch of cupcakes on the non-conference schedule really bites.) There's nothing about our home schedule that excites me, other than the two obvious — Georgia and USCe. I doubt I'll get season tickets this year for that reason.
But I'm jonesin' for some football, nonetheless. (Hey, I didn't really think about it until I typed it - seriously - but that's kinda a fun new pun for UT fans.
) I have no expectations for this season because I think Butch would have to be a miracle-worker to achieve anything better than 7-5. Our roster is just too depleted to stand a chance against Florida, Alabama or Oregon on the road, and there isn't a team in the SEC East that we can expect a cakewalk against, with the possible exception of Kentucky. In fact, I had to reel in my expectations even more after watching the spring game, even after all the excitement it generated. I'm really excited, though, to see if he can generate enough momentum to build on this nice start to the recruiting season. It's another reminder of how far we've sunk in such a short time, but an 8-win season (counting a bowl win) and a top 10 recruiting class would work wonders for this program.
I really see nothing right now that makes me thing Jones was a bad hire (caution: I also thought Dooley was a good hire at this same point in his tenure), and that makes me greatly anticipate the season even though UT is probably going to continue to be a doormat for at least one more year.
