Tennessee Volunteers 2011 football schedule

Despite its problems, college football remains the greatest sport in our country. And despite the problems of the Tennessee Volunteers in recent years, the team remains one of the most storied in college football history. Here is this year's schedule for the team:

Sept. 3 -- vs. Montana
Sept. 10 -- vs. Cincinnati
Sept. 17 -- at Florida
Oct. 1 -- vs. Buffalo
Oct. 8 -- vs. Georgia
Oct. 15 -- vs. LSU
Oct. 22 -- at Alabama
Oct. 29 -- vs. South Carolina
Nov. 5 -- vs. Middle Tennessee
Nov. 12 -- at Arkansas
Nov. 19 -- vs. Vanderbilt
Nov. 26 -- at Kentucky

Though the Volunteers will be better this year, it will still be a rebuilding year. The is no question coach Derek Dooley has improved the team's talent, but the team remains very inexperienced. There are only eight scholarship players on the roster who are seniors.

The non-conference schedule is easier than in recent years because the team will not be playing a national program from a power conference. Games against Montana, Cincinnati, Buffalo and Middle Tennessee should allow the Volunteers to go 4-0 outside the conference.

However, the conference schedule gets tougher this year. From the Western Division, the team plays Alabama, LSU, and Arkansas. All three of those teams have been ranked in the Top 15 nationally in various preseason publications. The Southeastern Conference remains the toughest conference in the nation so we should expect more struggles as the program rebuilds.

I see the Vols finishing 6-6 this year and going to a lower-tier bowl again. The team is heading in the right direction, but we need one more excellent recruiting class to put us back toward the top. Our wins should come against the four non-conference opponents, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. I hesitate to pick the Vols over Kentucky because we play them on the road, and they have come close to beating us in recent years. However, if they couldn't beat us last year, I don't know when they will.