Knoxville, Tennessee, will be rocking this weekend and will also be chaotic. Forget that College GameDay is coming to town; the President of the United States will be in attendance. It's been on the news that his attendance will affect the team's communication on the field, so there are so many elements going into this game.
With a checkerboard Neyland Stadium already being the most hostile environment in college sports, adding the presidential security measures makes this game complete madness. Nationally, fans and experts have been treating this SEC matchup as an early playoff preview, ready to crown a national title favorite.
Let's hold it first.
A win in a high-profile September heavyweight game is a great resume builder for playoff contention, but treating this game as a preview for the College Football Playoff is wrong. College football history has had so many early-season powerhouses killing it in the first weeks of the season, but when fall and cold weather come, they melt under pressure.
A win this weekend won't mean everything for the programs; it simply means they passed the first wave of the SEC marathon matchups. The rankings are praising Texas for their big win against Ohio State, and Tennessee has been killing it on offense, scoring above 40 each game, but remember, they haven't faced a ranked team yet.
We as fans love to overreact early on, but remember we just started the season, and we can't crown a contender this early in the season.
