For a while this year, it felt like Tennessee would become a major competitor in recruitment. They had two good classes in a row in 14 and 15, and they scored with Guarantano. Not to mention, they have easily the most aggressive and obnoxious Twitter fans in the land.

But something has happened of late. A couple of major de-commits. Lost momentum on prospects. A general sense of the air coming out of the balloon.

They now sit 21st in the team rankings - 9th in their conference - http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Football/CompositeTeamRankings. Their CB projections for the year had them headed toward 15th - http://247sports.com/Article/247Sports-Crystal-Ball-predicts-final-team-recruiting-rankings-37800663 - and that was before the latest decommit.

Add to the mix six players from last year's team who have been accused of sexual assault - http://www.knoxnews.com/govolsxtra/football/butch-jones-von-pearson-case-not-an-illustration-of-tennessee-football-program_00199249 - six from one team! - and you get the picture of a program that peaked before it peaked.

Other teams (Penn State) have a weird mismatch of fan confidence and team results, but perhaps none can top Tennessee. Let's hope they simply slide back into obscurity and the perpetual rebuilding that they have mastered.