On3's Ari Wasserman had a run-in with "Vol Twitter", the vocal group of Tennessee Vols fans that patrol X.com/Twitter on a daily basis, and it left him with some unkind thoughts about that portion of the UT fan base. 

Wasserman's run-in started when he suggested that Ohio State deserves to host a playoff game over Tennessee despite the fact that both teams have the same record. Notably, the Vols were undefeated at home while the Buckeyes lost as a three score favorite to Michigan at home. 

Unsurprisingly, Wasserman's Twitter notifications were full of Vols fans who disagreed with his take. 

Wasserman responded to some of those fans on Andy and Ari this week. 

“I know there’s a lot of very wonderful nice Tennessee fans,” said Wasserman. “Vol Twitter, the ugly edge of Vol Twitter, it’s the most vile, unbelievably disgusting place on the internet. It’s the black, dark web.”

“I don’t know how you could behave the way these people do at times," added Wasserman.

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Wasserman noted during the show that he was tired of fans "politicking" for their favorite teams, while also suggesting that he just wants to "talk football" with fans on Twitter. 

First off, I'm sure Wasserman knows as well as anyone that Twitter can be a terrible place for interacting with other humans. It's like a completely different universe where people suddenly have the courage to say any and everything that crosses their mind. 

I haven't seen Wasserman's mentions, but I'm sure there were plenty of vile things tweeted at him. That's kind of how it goes on that app unfortunately. Trust me, I have first-hand experience with that kind of stuff. I've had some pretty grotesque things tweeted at me before simply because I thought officials made a bad call. Many of those insults have come from fans that claim to root for Georgia. Does that mean every Georgia fan on that app is a jerk? No, of course not. The official Georgia Twitter account has over a million followers. At most, I've had a few hundred Georgia fans tweet nonsense at me. We're talking about maybe 0.0005 percent of fans that are going around tweeting dumb stuff at people. 

Ultimately, most Vol fans on Twitter simply want their arguments heard and considered. That's really it. I think those fans are tired of feeling talked down to by national media members. They're tired of media members pretending like they're the gatekeepers of what's "right" in college football and what's not. I'm not suggesting that's what Wasserman's doing, but that's likely how it feels to Vols fans. 

When it comes to the actual debate over Ohio State and Tennessee, I can see both sides. The Buckeyes have the better wins in the eyes of the committee. But the Vols didn't lose at home. I think that's important. That's mostly because of how often we've heard coaches and players in the sport — not media members who watch the games from a press box or a couch — talk about how difficult it is to play on the road. If coaches/players are talking that often about the difficulties of playing on the road, then it's a major factor in games that has to be considered by the committee. 

I mean, what's more difficult, playing on the road against bowl eligible Oklahoma at night or playing at home against bowl eligible Michigan? This season, I think almost every team is taking the home game against Michigan (I have no doubt that Alabama would take that Michigan game at least.)

Vol fans just don't want to be talked to like they're dumb or like their arguments are nonsensical. They're tired of being treated like they're sitting at the kids table when they bring up a logical argument while national media members are off pleading Alabama's case to be included in the playoff as a three loss team during an appearance on one of ESPN's many daytime shows. 

That's why "these people" in Tennessee are so passionate about this debate, Ari. 

Josh Heupel sends message to Vols fans who made the trip to Nashville for Tennessee’s win against Vanderbilt

There were plenty of Vols fans in Vanderbilt’s stadium