CFB Most Influential Programs
#18 Tennessee Volunteers
School: Tennessee Volunteers
First Game: November 21st, 1891
Winning Percentage: .672 (11th)
Appearances in AP/Rank: 618 (13th)
Average AP Ranking: 10.0
National Titles: 6
Claim to Fame: Neyland Stadium is one of the most picturesque venues in all of college football. Until the 2010s they were also one of the most consistent programs when it came to winning.
Why I have them in my Collection: Rocky Top isn’t the most famous thing about Tennessee's program, but as a musical person it absolutely does speak to me. It is one of the most famous tunes associated with a program and university on the whole.
The football program is also quite good though, Tennessee is one of only a handful of programs that can say they have won national championships in distinctive epochs of the college football timeline. They won prior to World War II, they won right after World War II, they won right after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and they won in the late 90s just as the rest of the SEC was finally catching up to recruiting more black players. This makes Tennessee one of the most consistently great programs of all time.
Of course, they also have famous alumni, chief among them is probably Peyton Manning. But Peyton didn’t even win a national championship while he was there. His coach, Philip Fulmer does have that distinction and is as integral to the story of Tennessee football as their checkered pattern fan sections are on game day.
Tennessee is one of the founding members of the SEC as well. During the 90s especially between them and Florida, they were always a part of who was going to compete in the SEC championship. The Volunteers have almost always had some say in who would win the National Championship, including for themselves, so their story is woven quite well into college football lore.
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