Are you ready for another crazy conspiracy theory about why the Tennessee Vols lost by 25 points to the South Carolina Gamecocks in 2022? 

Because there's a doozy of a theory floating around the internet this week that, while unlikely, isn't totally farfetched. 

Over the last week, the biggest story in college football has been the Michigan sign stealing scandal that's generated countless headlines. You can catch up on that story here if you've somehow missed all the craziness. 

On Tuesday night, Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger reported that Michigan analyst Connor Stalions, the main figure in the Wolverines' sign stealing scandal, bought a ticket to Tennessee's home game against Kentucky last season. Stalions transferred that ticket to someone who sat in a seat facing the Vols' sideline. 

Last October, Connor Stalions bought a single ticket to Tennessee’s game vs UK. Three minutes later, he transferred it to a person who attended the game in a seat facing Vols’ sideline.

Stalions also bought tix to UGA, Bama, CLEM & last 2 SEC title gameshttps://t.co/f3YeTXjRQV

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 24, 2023

The assumption is that Stalions bought the ticket so Michigan could decode Tennessee's sideline signals in case the Wolverines played the Vols in the College Football Playoff later that season. 

Here's where the conspiracy comes in. 

Some fans have speculated that Michigan was worried about Tennessee, a team which at that point looked unstoppable, so they gave the signals (offense and defensive signals) to South Carolina after the Vols lost to Georgia in an effort to keep Tennessee out of the playoff. 

It sounds good, right? 

And theoretically, it could be possible. This story is already outlandish, so why not add another layer to it? 

But I'm not buying it. For starters, it's an insult to South Carolina's players. On that night, the Gamecocks simply played better than Tennessee. The tape shows that South Carolina played harder and smarter. They had an excellent and creative game plan. And the Vols just weren't ready to play. Plus, we now know that playing on the road is a major issue for Tennessee that they've still yet to overcome. 

And it's not like the Vols' offense was terrible that night. They scored 38 points. And I'm not sure how helpful the defensive signals would've been. South Carolina dictated the way that game was played. They weren't reacting to Tennessee's defense, which was seemingly on its heels all night. 

So while this conspiracy is fun to think about, it's almost certainly not what happened that night. The likely truth, as it's been since that night in Columbia, is that Tennessee simply looked past South Carolina in anticipation of a playoff berth. 

Update: 

I completely forgot about this, but it's been brought up on social media. South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer was fined in 2016 for accepting information from a Wake Forest assistant in 2014 about plays that Wake Forest might run against Virginia Tech that season (Beamer was the assistant head coach/running backs coach at Virginia Tech at the time). So we know that Beamer isn't above cheating. But I'm still not sure I buy the Michigan/South Carolina sign stealing theory — only because the Vols played so badly that night. 

But hey, there is at least some evidence that it could've happened….

(And by the way, the 2014 meeting between Virginia Tech and Wake Forest resulted in a 6-3 overtime win for the Demon Deacons.)

Former Alabama QB correctly calls out Vols for the bad play call that flipped the game against the Crimson Tide

And he’s definitely not wrong about it, either