The Tennessee Volunteers have been experiencing their most disappointing decade-plus run on the football field, but they’re still a Southeastern Conference historical power with a stadium that seats in excess of 100,000 people.
For those on the outside, such as the visiting Pittsburgh Panthers this weekend, that’s a pretty big deal.
“This game is huge for us,” Panthers fifth-year senior outside linebacker Phil Campbell III said this week in a news conference. “Every game is huge, but I’ve never played an SEC team, and I’m really excited to get that going and represent the whole ACC, really. I’m excited.”
SEC teams have won 11 of the past 15 national championships, with Alabama accounting for six of those crowns and Auburn, Florida and LSU combining for the other five. That has created a polarizing aspect to college football, a development only enhanced by the announcement this summer that Oklahoma and Texas will be departing the Big 12 to form a 16-team super conference.
When the Panthers and Vols collide in the inaugural Johnny Majors Classic at noon Saturday on ESPN, Tennessee will be looking to give the SEC a 10th consecutive win over an Atlantic Coast Conference team, with Alabama, Georgia and Ole Miss having extended that streak last weekend at the expense of Miami, Clemson and Louisville.