The Wiz of Odds

Tennessee

Butch Jones is said to have made great strides recruiting the level of talent needed for Tennessee to compete for a Southeastern Conference championship, but when will his brick-by-brick efforts really pay off? Tennessee is a young team and although it missed the postseason in 2013, the belief is that Jones will have the Volunteers playing in a bowl game this winter. But Tennessee could be a year or two from mounting a serious challenge to the Alabamas and LSUs of the world.

Team Entrance Videos, Part 3

The last installment of entrance videos, starting with UCLA, which specifically designed this humorous entry for the opener against Nevada.

Tennessee

Here's what you need to know about Tennessee: the Volunteers have gone 28-34 since the start of the 2008 seasson. In Knoxville, that's not good enough.

One can argue until you're orange in the face that Tennessee should not have parted ways with Phil Fulmer. That's history now. Lane Kiffin stuck around for one season and left for USC, then came Derek Dooley. He was asked to leave after going 15-21 in three seasons. That's all in the past. Butch Jones is the new coach, and the future is now.

Jones comes by way of Cincinnati and, before that, Central Michigan. He's a proven winner. While this year's team won't be great, Jones' history suggests he will have the Volunteers back among the SEC's best sooner rather than later.

Thanks to Jimmy.

Poster Approval Rating: Tennessee
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Tennessee

Tennessee's posters feature linebacker A.J. Johnson, top, and receiver Justin Hunter. Johnson had 80 tackles in his freshman season. Hunter was a rising star until tearing a ligament in his left knee last season against Florida. Hunter said he feels "no tweaks or anything like that" and promises to be at full strength for the Aug. 31 opener against North Carolina State. The Volunteers will need him. Tennessee is 23-27 since 2008 and won only one game in Southeastern Conference play last season. That puts coach Derek Dooley, entering his third season, squarely on the hot seat.

Click the images to enlarge. Thanks to Doug.

Tennessee

Tennessee enters Year 2 of the Derek Dooley era with an eight-game home schedule. That alone should help the Volunteers rebound from last season's 6-7 record. Nonetheless, the rebuilding project is ongoing — roughly 70% of the roster are freshmen and sophomores — so expect Tennessee to make a move to elite status in 2012-13.

Thanks to Doug. Click the image to enlarge.

Music City Bowl

The Wiz of Odds is conducting a comprehensive study of bowl game expense reports. All of the data collected — expense reports for 56 teams and bowl surveys for 40 teams — are being posted on the site. Here is the latest installment. For an overview of the project, click here.

The Music City Bowl is owned and operated by the Nashville Sports Council, a private 501(c) nonprofit. The inaugural game was played in 1998.

2010 participants: North Carolina and Tennessee.

North Carolina expenses: The school reported 1,465 absorbed tickets at a cost of $93,260. Administrative costs were listed at $297,923. The team also reported an expenditure of $3,072, which covered the cost of laundry services (at bowl site — $1,811) and rental of hydraulic lifts to film practice ($1,261). Download North Carolina Expenses

Survey: The school did not provide The Wiz of Odds with a bowl survey.

Tennessee expenses: The school listed 1,927 absorbed tickets at a cost of $115,780. In addition to the form returned to the NCAA, Tennessee provided a more detailed breakdown of expenses to The Wiz of Odds. Those expenses are listed on page three of the pdf.

On that page, total costs were listed at $816,221. Included in the expanded breakdown were items such as player bowl gifts ($42,550), bowl media guides ($15,312) and practice officials ($945). Download Tennessee Expenses

Survey: Athletic director Mike Hamilton gave the bowl a "dissatisfied" rating when asked if bowl policies were clearly communicated.

"The only real issue we had with the bowl was the management from the Sports Information Side [sic]," Hamilton wrote. "The postgame media setup was not very well managed. We had communicate [sic] our needs and our issues, and they were seemingly ignored. Media management could be better with this bowl."

He also expressed frustration with VIP courtesy transportation.

"The biggest issue we had was with the logistics of the hotel and their valet parking," he wrote. "If you were not traveling with the team on buses, it was nearly impossible to get onto or out of the hotel property. With 1,800 rooms, two football teams and a cheerleading competition going, the hotel was hectic and neither team felt like they were the priority.

"Cheerleaders became the focal point. When it takes nearly 40 minutes to get into or out of the hotel that is too long. This needs to be addressed." Download Tennessee Survey