It could have been worse. The Tennessee Volunteers fell out of the top ten in the Coaches’ Poll after losing to the Florida Gators in the Swamp. They only fell to number 11, but this is a ten-horse race, and so the mighty Power T has been replaced. For now.

Here are the horses after Week Three:

The Purdue Boilermakers enter the race at number 10, and the other 9 teams get shuffled just a bit. This is the point in the season where Vol fans start worrying not only about Tennessee’s next opponent, but the fate of the horses in front of them. The Vols must win the rest of their games and most of the teams now in front of them must lose some of theirs in order for Tennessee to make it to the Rose Bowl.

What the Vols were viewing as a curse of a schedule last week could now very well be their blessing. They still get to play number 3 LSU and number 6 Georgia, and if they can beat them, they may find themselves back in the top 5.

The biggest problem right now (besides trying to win at LSU this Saturday) is the Gators. The Vols need Florida to lose two SEC games in order to jump them in the SEC East and play for the SEC Championship. The games the Gators are most likely to lose are at Alabama on October 1, at LSU on October 15, and versus Georgia on October 29.

---

See the Race to the Rose Bowl from the beginning:

• Preseason
• Week One
• Week Two

What a difference a day makes. A story on InsideTennessee.com quotes Coach Phillip Fulmer as saying:

It’s a tough loss but not the end of the season. But with the schedule that we have, we’re going to have to play a lot better on offense to get some wins.

Before the first game, Coach Fulmer chose quarterback Erik Ainge as the starter, despite Rick Clausen having better numbers in the fall scrimmages, saying that “[i]t’s about making a decision off what you think can get you to the Rose Bowl.”

Not the guy who had the best chance of winning some games or even of winning the SEC Championship, but of winning the national championship. Now we’re talking about having to play “alot” better to get “some wins.”

There’s still hope for this season, but the team does need to play better because the schedule doesn’t get any easier.

To put things in perspective — WARNING, BRACE YOURSELF FOR EARTH-SHATTERING REVELATION — the University of Tennessee Volunteers football team is behind the Vanderbilt Commodore team in the SEC East.

That just about says it all, doesn’t it?