Once when Steve Spurrier was questioned about the inability of Phil Fulmer's UT Vols to beat Florida during a 4 year stretch he quipped "You can't spell Citrus without UT" , referring to the Bowl that usually hosted the SEC #2 team, and added about former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning "I know why Peyton came back for his senior year: he wanted to be a three-time Citrus Bowl MVP".  The irony, of course, is that it was Florida playing Penn State in the Citrus Bowl that year while UT got plastered by Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.

 Now the old Citrus Bowl is the new Capital One Bowl, Spurrier has long since left Florida and gone to a South Carolina team who is not bowling this year and TN has found a new bowl that also cannot be spelled without UT...the Outback Bowl.

 Starting the season with an ugly loss to Cal, allowing them to score 45 points and an even uglier loss to Florida 59-20, Tennessee looked to be heading into a very bleak season.  Many fans, still angry about the  2005 campaign, were calling for the firing of coach Fulmer and the general mood of the program wasn't good.

 TN headed back to Neyland to face the then #12 Georgia Bulldogs with a 2-2 record and no one gave them much of a chance to win against the vaunted Georgia team.  I'm not sure what it was that the coaches said or did differently (if anything), but things started to click in the Georgia game and UT pummeled them 35-14 and followed it with another conference win against Miss St.  Suddenly, there was a flicker of hope in Vol nation...that was quickly snuffed.  A Vol team that was looking forward to a meeting with then #16 South Carolina coached by the source of their angst for so many years at Florida, Steve Spurrier, overlooked a struggling Alabama team who tattooed them with a 41-17 whipping that won't be soon forgotten by either side.  Once again, the doubters, complainers and conspirators to have Fulmer fired were given fuel to add to their fire.

 There was a palpable sense of dread on the campus as the South Carolina game approached.  Spurrier had the 7-1 #16 Gamecocks playing great and he had always pulled just the right ropes and pushed just the right buttons to beat Fulmer's team in the past.  The is the same Spurrier that after the 2005 season rubbed salt in the wound by responded to a question of; "Coach, how did we beat Tennessee this year?" at a South Carolina alumni meeting with; "The same way Vanderbilt did."

 It seemed that TN was about to be 4-4, on their way to another campaign like 2005 and Fulmer's tenure at UT was as good as over.  This time though, Fulmer's team had just the right plays at the right time against 7-1 South Carolina to pull off an improbable win by sending the game to OT with a 48 yd field goal with five seconds on the clock and winning it by a  field goal in overtime.  This started a streak of five wins for the Vols to end their regular season 9-3 and a share of the SEC Eastern Division title with Georgia.  This also started South Carolina on a 5-game losing skid to end their season 7-6 and out of the bowl picture; much to the delight of Spurrier detractors everywhere.

 Because UT beat GA head-to-head, they would be representing the east in the SEC Championship game against LSU.

 The SEC Championship game was heart-breaking for UT fans.  TN was one fourth-quarter interception from winning the SEC with a 10-3 record and going to the Sugar Bowl to face Hawaii's Heisman hopeful Colt Brennan.  Both teams played sloppy in a game where the defenses shined.  But it was LSU's defense that showed why it is one of the top units in the country by making the plays to cap a 14-point swing and win the game in the end.

 By nature of the Vols finishing 9-4 and in the Championship game, it seems for now that Fulmer's job is safe and he was given another one year extension and a raise.  It shouldn't surprise anyone as Fulmer has been the consummate survivor in a conference that goes through coaches like Charles Barkley does Snicker bars.

 So...#16 Tennessee will head to the Outback Bowl (Formerly known as the Hall of Fame Bowl) to play a very good  #18 Wisconsin team which also has 9 wins this season.  Fulmer has history here, as it is the site of his first win as head coach in 1993 against Boston College 38-23 behind the arm of quarterback Heath Shuler.

 Tennessee fans now are disappointed that we aren't in the Sugar bowl, but would have been surprised at midseason that we would have made it to a Bowl like the Outback at all.  Were a bunch that's hard to please, huh?

 All-in-all, with the bad start at the beginning and gritty resolve and performance of the players down the stretch, it has been a good year.  It would be fitting to end it with a win at the Outback bowl to secure Fulmer's eighth 10-win season out of 15 at UT.

Oh, and to Steve Spurrier:  "How did UT beat South Carolina"?  The same way Vanderbilt did.   -And-   You can't spell "Watching the Bowls from your sectional sofa" without S-O-U-T-H  C-A-R-O-L-I-N-A!