The Volunteer State

The Lady Vols are all in on Kim Caldwell's upside.

Tennessee athletic director Danny White didn't want to miss the boat on Caldwell or delay hiring a coach whose career is on an upward trajectory. Two years ago, Caldwell led Division II Glenville State to its first national championship. This season, her first as a Division I coach, she took Marshall to the NCAA Tournament.

Now, she coaches a blueblood. Caldwell's fast track matc...

Danny White faces a big decision – his biggest decision, in fact, since he hired Josh Heupel in 2021.

White is conducting a Lady Vols coaching search that will reshape the direction of the program. Kellie Harper maintained the program as an NCAA Tournament regular, but she repeatedly peaked in the Sweet 16, and the Lady Vols were eliminated in the second round this year. Recruiting momentum had stalled.

White acted boldly by firi...

Rick Barnes and the Sweet 16 go hand and hand.

The Vols are back among the NCAA Tournament’s final 16 teams standing in March Madness for the second straight year and the third time during Barnes’ tenure.

But, this round of March Madness remains a familiar pitfall for Tennessee, which has never made a Final Four.

Barnes’ lone Final Four appearance came in 2003 at Texas. He’s in the Sweet 16 for the ninth time.

On today's episod...

Tennessee’s early SEC Tournament exit cost the Vols a likely No. 1 NCAA seed.

The silver lining: Tennessee won’t have to meet No. 1 overall seed UConn in the NCAA Tournament until the national championship. Also good news: Rick Barnes possesses his best team in a handful of years.

But, Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament history remains an elephant in the room. The Vols never have reached a Final Four, and the program’s lone Elite Eight ...

More than a trophy is at stake when the Tennessee basketball team takes the floor at the SEC Tournament in Nashville this week. A No. 1 seed could be on the line for the Vols (24-7).

Some bracket experts are projecting Tennessee as a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament, but such outlooks are subject to fluctuation. If the Vols bow out early in the conference tournament, they could surrender the inside track to a top seed. If t...

We're talking about practice. Spring practice.

Tennessee will begin spring workouts on March 18. Let the Nico Iamaleava era take hold. Iamaleava's performance in his first career start, a bowl victory against Iowa, has Vols fans feeling optimistic about the 2024 season.

The quarterback position being in capable hands could put Tennessee on a path toward College Football Playoff contention – but only if the Vols address a few impo...

Perhaps it goes without saying. We’ll say it anyway.

The Third Saturday in October will be the most important game on Tennessee’s 2024 schedule.

Oh, sure, we realize the importance of a few other games. When the Vols face Georgia in mid-November, Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs may well be ranked No. 1. Tennessee’s September date at Oklahoma, Josh Heupel’s alma mater, will be another biggie. And be careful about overlooking an October gam...

Is this finally the year Tennessee basketball makes a Final Four? We've wondered that about previous Rick Barnes teams, but Barnes has never advanced past the Sweet 16 with the Vols.

That history suggests that Tennessee, despite its No. 5 national ranking and 20-6 record, is just teasing a hungry fan base before another postseason disappointment. But, there's something different about this team. Namely, this team has Dalton Knecht...

Maybe this is the NCAA’s way of doing Tennessee a favor.

UT officials have decried the NCAA’s latest investigation into the Tennessee Vols, but if you think about it, the Vols can use this to their advantage.

Tennessee’s response to this investigation can be loosely summarized as: Rules? What rules? Let’s make some deals.

Sounds like a start to a recruiting pitch: Come to Tennessee, where the NCAA’s flimsy rules don’t matter, a...

Round 1 went to the NCAA.

A more important Round 2 is set to be decided next week.

Tennessee's legal clash with the NCAA is continuing to play out in the courtroom, and the state's attorney general doesn't seem too demoralized that a judge did not grant a temporary restraining order this week that would have halted the NCAA's NIL guidelines.

That's because a bigger, longer-lasting ruling awaits next week.

On today's episode, ho...

Tennessee is under NCAA investigation. Again. 

This time, the investigation involves potential violations to the NCAA’s flimsy NIL guidelines. And, this time, Tennessee is fighting back. 

UT Chancellor Donde Plowman has her elbows sharpened for this fight, and so does Vols AD Danny White. Perhaps more importantly, the Tennessee attorney general, Jonathan Skrmetti, is suing the NCAA. The lawsuit alleges that the NCAA's NIL guideli...

Tennessee football has its quarterback of its present and of its future. His name is Nico Iamaleava. And now, Tennessee appears to have its next quarterback of the future. His name is George MacIntyre.

MacIntyre, a five-star prospect from Brentwood Academy, committed to Tennessee this week. He’s one of the nation’s best quarterback prospects and a top-15 recruit overall. He headlines Josh Heupel’s 2025 recruiting class.

“This isn...

From Knoxville to Auburn and SEC football locales throughout the South, fans can rejoice in Nick Saban's retirement. Saban was especially hard on Tennessee. He went 16-1 against the Vols as Alabama's coach. Josh Heupel, in 2022, became the first UT coach to beat Saban's Tide.

Alabama hired an accomplished coach in Kalen DeBoer, but it nonetheless may need a minute to adjust to life without Saban. Several talented Tide players are ...

Expectations are climbing for Tennessee’s 2024 season after Nico Iamaleava’s smashing success in his first career start in a bowl victory against Iowa.

The freshman smoothly operated Tennessee’s offense while showing his athleticism as a runner during the Vols’ 35-0 victory.

With Iamaleava’s performance still on the brain, there’s now chatter of Tennessee being a playoff contender next season.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Top...

Look up to see that the sky is not falling. It's still up there.

Several Tennessee players are beelining for the transfer portal. That might seem unnerving. Look around, though, and you'll see this is happening at programs across the country.

This exodus is not a UT problem. It's simply a reflection of the state of college football, where immediate eligibility for transfers and portal windows results in a flurry of outbound play...

The transfer portal is open, and Tennessee needs to do a little holiday shopping. The Vols have legitimate needs to address for 2024.

Defensive backs? Wide receivers? A tight end? Some offensive linemen? A backup quarterback?

If the Vols are feeling gluttonous, they could do some big spending in the transfer market.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer, Adam Sparks and John Adams offer their top needs for Tennessee to addre...

If the Gator Bowl is to be Tennessee football's postseason path, then let the opponent be North Carolina.

The Vols (8-4) will learn their bowl destination on Sunday. Most of the prominent projections have identified Tennessee as being earmarked for the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, against either UNC (8-4) or North Carolina State (9-3).

Tennessee last played in the Gator Bowl to culminate the 2019 season, rallying to beat Indiana t...

Tennessee football requires a recalibration of its offense in the offseason. A unit that led the nation in scoring in 2022 is pretty pedestrian this season. And Josh Heupel's teams aren't built to succeed with pedestrian offenses. Offense must fuel the Vols' success.

In Nico Iamaleava, we trust?

Well, sort of.

Better quarterback play is needed in 2024, and Iamaleava will be a redshirt freshman ready for the reins. In brief appe...

Tennessee football's crowning achievement 10 games into the season is a win at Kentucky. What's that say? Well, it's not a success story.

But, can this season fairly be labeled a bust?

The Vols (7-3, 3-3 SEC) entered the season with a preseason No. 12 ranking and the momentum of an 11-win campaign that included an Orange Bowl triumph. It didn't take long, though, for Tennessee to show its colors and prove this would be no repeat ...