The buzz surrounding potential SEC realignment continues and John Adams of the Knoxville News Sentinel made an aggressive suggestion about Tennessee. In short, the columnist suggested that the Vols "would be better off" avoiding Alabama as an annual opponent and said the following.
That's why UT would be better off not having the Tide as a regular opponent. The SEC also would be better off from a competitive standpoint without permanent non-divisional rivals.
Playing Alabama obviously puts UT at a huge disadvantage in its division. Its scheduling disadvantage will be magnified this season and next.
After all, Tennessee has been housed by Alabama in recent years, losing 10 straight games and often by a massive margin in the process. With that said, college football is about competition and former Tennessee defensive end and current SB Nation writer Stephen White took particular exception to the suggestion.
White almost certainly is not alone in his thinking here, as Tennessee fans would like to be on a level playing field with Alabama in the future. That would require a significant leap from Butch Jones and the program but, with that said, it seems crazy that anyone directly associated with the Vols would actually admit to the fact that ending the annual battle with the Crimson Tide would be a good thing for the program.
Oh and, by the way, Tennessee has had plenty of recent trouble with non-Alabama opponents from the SEC West.
Maybe finding a different opponent wouldn't be so easy anyway.
