After the University of Alabama, Tennessee comes in a close second in my ranking of college football programs. With a stadium seating over 107,000, the University of Tennessee is unrivaled in the SEC in terms of fan support. The University of Michigan is the only school in the country to have a larger stadium than the Tennessee Volunteers, but Michigan is in the Big 10, and well, let's just say; no one knows how to get down like SEC fans. The University of Tennessee also consistently has one of the best football teams in the country, with the crowning achievement being 1998's National Championship. Dedicated fans and exceptional players make this one of the greatest football teams in SEC play, and across the nation.

When you talk about Tennessee football, the first thing that comes to everyone's mind is Neyland Stadium. The stadium has consistently been added onto over the past few years, and with this past year's addition of more skyboxes, now seats almost 109,000 fans. Neyland Stadium is truly a great monument to the support and tradition of Tennessee football. Decked out in orange, and overseen by a brand new JumboTron, Neyland is a beautiful sight to behold along the banks of the Tennessee River. To sit with 109,000 of your closest friends, all cheering for the same team, is truly a breathtaking experience. Nowhere in pro sports can this be experienced, and only rarely in the college atmosphere.

Of course, in order to fill all those seats, you have to have one heck of a lot of fans, and Tennessee doesn't disappoint. One of my favorite slogans overheard about Tennessee's fans is: "The University of Tennessee: Where rednecks turn orange in the fall." (Bright, bright orange is Tennessee's official color.) Are Tennessee's fans rednecks? Many of them are, but you would be hard pressed to find any more loyal following than the Tennessee faithful. Not only are they loyal, but they are also some of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. There are always exceptions to this of course, but Tennessee fans are almost always courteous and polite, even to opposing teams. And the most important thing....LOUD. When the whole stadium breaks into "Rocky Top" (Tennessee's fight song), it sounds almost as if an earthquake has hit the building.

And no mention of Tennessee's fans would be complete without mention of the Vol Navy, a group of Tennessee faithful who bring their boats up the Tennessee river to every Volunteer football game. They are truly unique to the school and just another tribute in a long line of accolades surrounding the Tennessee football program.

And just how has Tennessee managed to build such a huge fan base? This support has only come from building great football teams for many, many years. Tennessee has had many amazing teams over the years, which comes mainly from great recruiting. Of course, the most famous recruit at Tennessee, who now plays for the Indianapolis Colts, was Peyton Manning. However, he is only one in a long line of fabulous recruits that have made Tennessee one of the top programs in the nation.

The defining moment for this program, of course, was the 1998 college football national championship. Tennessee was never picked to win the national championship in 1998, but proved through determination and amazing content of character, that anything is possible. Great players and motivators, such as Al Wilson, showed what playing football for Tennessee is all about. Never in my 15+ years of watching college football, have I seen a player who did a better job of motivating a team to play at its highest level. He, and the players around him, symbolize everything that is great about this program and college football in general.

The football program at Tennessee is something truly special to behold. The players and coaches here symbolize everything that is great about the game of football. From the stadium to the throngs of screaming fans, Tennessee is truly one of the hallowed grounds of college football. This is football at its finest and definitely recommended for any college football fan. The fans, the team, and the stadium at the University of Tennessee can be summed up best by using the title of Tennessee's marching band, The Pride of the Southland. The Tennessee Volunteers certainly have made us proud: as a university, a conference, and a state.





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