The Tennessee Vols are 5-1 at the midway point of the 2024 season. 

That's not where the Vols wanted to be at this point in the season — Tennessee hoped to be 6-0 going into their matchup against Alabama — but the Vols are still in a good shape. Tennessee controls its own destiny despite an early-season loss to Arkansas. 

If you listen to the national media, though, you'd think that this Tennessee team was having a disastrous season. 

Instead of the narrative being that Tennessee is a one-loss team that is still very much alive in the College Football Playoff hunt, the narrative is that the Vols' offense is broken and that redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava is having a bad season. 

The internet is littered with hot takes about the Vols like the one below. 

It's mind-blowing that this is the narrative that's been created about Tennessee this season. 

Through the first half of the season, it's been extremely evident that there's more parity in college football than we've seen in a long, long time. 

We've seen Georgia almost lose to Kentucky before losing to Alabama. And then we saw Alabama lose to Vanderbilt. We've seen Ole Miss lose to Kentucky. We saw LSU lose to a bad USC team. And we saw that same LSU team nearly lose to South Carolina. The Gamecocks nearly beat Alabama this past weekend despite getting blown out by Kentucky earlier this season. And that same Kentucky team just lost to Vanderbilt. 

The Commodores, by the way, inexplicably lost to Georgia State in September. 

It's been a strange season — especially in the SEC. I think it's safe to say that the NCAA transfer portal/NIL era/expanded playoff is directly responsible for the odd start to the season. 

The mantra for every team right now should essentially be "survive and advance". Teams just have to find a way to win. 

But for some reason, when it comes to Tennessee, there's this idea that the Vols are only good if they're scoring a lot of points. The narrative is that Josh Heupel is an offensive guy and if his offense isn't putting up at least 40 points a game then Tennessee is "broken". 

That's a completely absurd narrative and it's completely unfair to Tennessee's players and coaches. And that narrative has created the perception that Tennessee, despite being 5-1 with wins against Oklahoma and Florida, isn't an elite playoff-caliber team. 

But Georgia and Alabama get the benefit of the doubt for some reason — even though Tennessee has the No. 9 scoring offense and the No. 4 scoring defense in the nation (Georgia has the No. 35 scoring offense and the No. 21 scoring defense while Alabama has the No. 10 scoring offense and the No. 41 scoring defense). 

Other teams seem to get a pass for winning ugly (like Alabama this past weekend against South Carolina or Georgia against Mississippi State) while the Vols are penalized for winning ugly (Tennessee fell from No. 8 to No. 11 in the AP Top 25 poll after their win against Florida). 

It seems like the only way Tennessee can get respect is if they drop 50 points on an opponent. 

Vols head coach Josh Heupel, however, doesn't see it the same way. 

"Man, as a football team, you’re just trying to find a way to be plus-one on the scoreboard," said Heupel after the overtime win against Florida. "And if you can find a way to do a lot more than that, that’s awesome. At no point since I’ve been here, has it been anything other than all of us together….our defense, their competitive makeup, but also their belief in the other side of football, that they’re going to go make a play, it’s what a team’s about. We haven’t been perfect. We can be a lot better."

That quote is a great reminder that Heupel is a football coach first and and play-caller second. His mission each week isn't to stuff the stat sheet, it's to win. 

The national media's perception of the Vols is harmful to the Tennessee football program and the positive momentum that's been created over the last few years. The Vols are right in the thick of the playoff hunt. There should be plenty of hype around the program. I mean, less than five years ago there were media members that suggested that Tennessee wouldn't play in a bowl game for several years after Jeremy Pruitt was fired. Yet here they are with a 5-1 record and in control of their own destiny. And the national narrative is that "Tennessee's offense is broken" (words written by On3's Jesse Simonton just two days after the Vols' third win against Florida in 20 years). 

In the first six games of the season, two big games were circled by Vols fans — the game against Oklahoma and the game against Florida. 

Tennessee won both of those. And they were a play away from winning an ugly road game against Arkansas and being 6-0.  

The Vols are good. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. I don't know how this season will play out for Tennessee. But for now, the Vols look like a legit contender. 

Key Vols player is almost certainly going to break a Tennessee record that has stood for almost 100 years

Mind boggling