The 20 most overhyped college football teams of the last 20 years

2005: Tennessee Volunteers

Phil Fulmer led Tennessee to the 1998 national championship as part of a College Football Hall of Fame head coaching career. However, his legacy in Knoxville was damaged at the end because of two major disappointing seasons.

In 2008, Fulmer’s final season at Tennessee, the Vols opened as the No. 18-ranked team in the country but posted a 5-7 record. However, Fulmer’s worst performance actually came three seasons earlier.

Tennessee won the SEC East and beat Texas A&M 38-7 in the Cotton Bowl in 2004, and as a result, began the 2005 season as the third-ranked team in the preseason AP Top 25. The Vols were loaded with talent on both sides of the football. Rick Clausen and Erik Ainge battled for the starting quarterback job, running backs Arian Foster and Gerald Riggs were one of the top one-two punches in the SEC, and the defense featured Parys Haralson, who led the team with 8.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss.

However, after squeaking by UAB 17-10 in the season opener, No. 5 Tennessee lost to No. 6 Florida 16-7 in Gainesville. The Vols only dropped to No. 10, and picked up a huge 30-27 win over No. 4 LSU in Baton Rouge on a Monday night, and then followed with a 27-10 win over Ole Miss, but a brutal schedule soon took its toll.

Tennessee lost four in a row and five of six from Oct. 8 to Nov. 19 beginning with a 27-14 loss to No. 5 Georgia at Neyland Stadium. The Vols fell 6-3 to No. 5 Alabama in Tuscaloosa the following week, and were tripped up 16-15 at home against an unranked South Carolina squad. After a 41-21 loss at No. 8 Notre Dame, Tennessee needed to go undefeated in its final three games to reach a bowl game. Instead, Vanderbilt beat the Vols 28-24 in the home finale, and Tennessee finished 5-6.