Tennessee Volunteers' 1998 National Championship: Part I

And for one half, they were more than that—the Vols led the Gators 30-14 late in the second quarter that year.  And from there, we knew only heartbreak.

Florida outscored the Vols by an uncanny 48-7 mark from that point on to win that day 62-37, then opened the 1996 game with a 35-0 lead to continue the torture.  Even when Peyton decided to stay at the University of Tennessee, the Vols found themselves on the receiving end of a 33-20 loss that wasn't really that close in 1997.

Florida wasn't just beating Tennessee—they were making it look easy and breaking our spirit along the way.  And Tennessee was beating everybody else, and had nothing to show for it.  It was tangible depression in Big Orange Country.

The saying goes that around Knoxville, there are only two questions one asks on the Third Sunday in September:  "Can we go all the way?" or "Will Florida lose twice?"

Since for five straight years we could only ask the second one from 1993-1997, the answer kept being "no," and Florida kept playing in Atlanta, while the Vols kept playing in Orlando.

But finally...finally...in October of 1997, with the senior Manning somewhat downtrodden and the business-as-usual Vols tearing up everyone else behind the running of super freshman Jamal Lewis...finally, the Vols broke through.  Not because they were good enough to beat Florida...but because finally, someone else was.

In 1995 and 1996, the Vols lost to Florida in September, then beat everyone else in the SEC and had to hope the Gators lost twice along the way.  And in 1995 and 1996, Florida ran roughshod over the conference.  They didn't even lose once to give us false hope—they went 8-0 both years.  It was like the Gators weren't even giving us a chance.

So when they won again in 1997, we just assumed it'd be three straight Januaries in Orlando.

But then, the No. 1 Gators went into Tiger Stadium in October, and somehow, someway, somebody found a way to beat them.  It was the first SEC loss for Florida since 1994, but the Tigers got it done 28-21.  And suddenly, there was hope in Knoxville.

The Vols needed one more, and they'd have to wait—Auburn couldn't get it done the following week against the Gators.

But then, against the one team who could sympathize with the Vols' Florida struggles more than anyone, the Gators stubbed their toe again—in the Cocktail Party, against a Georgia team the Vols had toyed with weeks earlier, and most UT fans gave no second thoughts about.

Georgia unleashed the fury, 37-17.  And all of a sudden...the Vols were in the driver's seat.

Peyton Manning and Tennessee maintained that position, closing out Vanderbilt in narrow fashion to clinch their first SEC East Division Championship.  And I will still contest to this very day that the best environment I've ever been in for any sporting event was the 1997 SEC Championship between Tennessee and Auburn.

Two old rivals who hadn't played under the new divisional format in six years, two storied programs both making their first trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship, and the Vols at No. 3 and still holding an outside shot at winning it all.  It's the only neutral site game I've ever been to where the crowd was truly 50-50.

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