When I think about the “how long has it been?” conversations, I think about JaMarcus Russell.

JaMarcus Russell has been out of the NFL for six years. He was the number one overall pick three years before that. And the year before that he led #13 LSU on a 15-play, 80-yard drive, throwing a touchdown pass on third-and-goal from the four yard line with five seconds left to beat the #8 Vols 28-24 on November 5, 2006.

That was the last time Tennessee was ranked in the Top 10 until today.

Tennessee’s last offensive snap before that LSU drive (which we’re always quick to point out would have been much shorter if instant replay was around in 2006 when Russell fumbled before being ruled down) was this one: freshman Jonathan Crompton in his first meaningful appearance, heaving and hoping and creating expectations for himself. Erik Ainge had tweaked his ankle the week before at South Carolina, another great what if. That’s Robert Meachem pulling it down and scoring against double coverage, one of his five catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns helping make him a first round pick five months later.

It was an incredible game, the kind only two really good teams can play in November because it still has championship implications. And that play, that bomb from Crompton to Meachem, is the last time we got to lift our voices with the same implciations in Neyland Stadium. The last time we got to believe our team could still be the team. Until now.

Preseason polls are largely meaningless in the context of each individual season. There are valid arguments we shouldn’t even have them until October, though we all enjoy them far too much for that to ever happen.

But they are not meaningless in the arc of a program over time.

Tennessee doesn’t win anything for being ranked 10th in the first coaches’ poll. For Team 120 this is the least important week for poll data. And the most powerful truths we believe about Butch Jones are yet to be written, set to unfold over 13 Saturdays starting just 28 days from now.

But this ranking is one final validation of the truths we currently believe about Butch Jones. He has done something that eluded Phillip Fulmer in his final two years, Lane Kiffin for a few short months, Derek Dooley for three long years and three more slow, brick-by-brick years for Butch himself.

But now, for the first time in 10 years, Tennessee is back in the Top 10. For the first time in 10 years, the Vols will pull up a chair at the biggest table and see if they’ve got what it takes to win.

We’ll spill so many words on Jones this season in some ratio of praise and blame. But today, he deserves a few more of praise for just bringing us back to this point. For recruiting like a team at the big table even when we were losing more than we were winning. For not being the first choice for this job when it came open, not being Jon Gruden, and not being several other guys several of us wanted, but jumping right in with both feet and embracing the fan base anyway. For dealing with the adversity he didn’t choose and the adversity some of his fingerprints are on from fourth quarters past, yet still driving his teams to consistently make forward progress every single year.

That progress has led us here, where the fourth quarters will matter much more and he’ll get his chance to write a better ending. We’re all waiting to see what Butch Jones can do with a team capable of winning championships. I’m sure on some level Butch is too.

All of that will answer itself, and soon. But for the first time in 10 years, thanks to Butch Jones, we get to pull up a chair and be dealt in to the biggest game in college football.

Go Vols.

Our countdown continues with No. 3. After Cotton Bowls on Cotton Bowls, the Hooty Dale era begins to crumble in giant chunks.

And then there were three. Yes, only three more trips into the abyss of agony remain before we can stop looking at old YouTube clips of terrible football and wondering how much more refreshing our lives would’ve been had we not cared for sports and gone to teach English in South Korea or something.

Last week we recalled the season when one of Lafourche Parish’s sons, armed with the ability to holler really well and no tolerance for male jewelry, arrived in Oxford to repair a damaged football program. This week in our countdown, we turn our attention to Houston Nutt, armed with only paranoia, and his quest to take Ole Miss to back-to-back-to-back Cotton Bowls and New Year’s Day bowls for the first time in FORTY-NINE YEARS. FORTY-NINE. FOR-TY-NINE.

Following the 2009 season, starting quarterback Jevan Snead and his 20-interception effort departed early for the NFL, meaning Ole Miss opened the 2010 season with a new quarterback, but not a quarterback with 33 interceptions in 26 games. Going into August, Nutt’s options behind center were redshirt sophomore Nathan Stanley, redshirt freshman Raymond Cotton, and junior college transfer Randall Mackey.

However, once August started, THE REAL FUN BEGAN. Cotton left the team and Nutt acquired the services of former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who applied for a waiver to be eligible to play immediately and expected said waiver to be approved.

Because the NCAA is always gonna NCAA, they initially denied that waiver four days before the season opener, citing HARRUMPH ACADEMICS AMATEURISM HARRUMPH (a loose translation on my part). Incredibly, an NCAA subcommittee overturned the initial ruling one day before the opener, making Masoli eligible to play the next day and for the rest of the season.

So fresh off a waiver victory, but continued uncertainty at quarterback, Ole Miss began its third campaign under the direction of Houston Nutt. Thankfully, the first opponent was little ol’ Jacksonville State, which meant the Rebels had some time to find a reliable starting quarterback. Surely nothing would go wrong with that plan, right?

3) 2010 (4-8 overall, 1-7 SEC)

stats/schedule via olemisssports.com

Whoops. WAS THAT BAD?

As we remember all too well from the Jacksonville State game, the offense was not usually a problem throughout the season, though they were not as good as some like to remember. Ole Miss outrushed opponents 2,491-1,834, but the passing yardage went the other way, as opponents threw for 2,956 yards to the Rebels’ 2,307.

The team’s leading receiver was running back Brandon Bolden (32 receptions) and wide receiver Melvin Harris was the only receiver to catch 30 or more passes (in 2015, Ole Miss had six receivers catch 31 or more passes). The issues in the passing game were related to a bad pass-blocking offensive line, talent at the receiver position, Masoli’s accuracy issues (57% career completion percentage), and what happens when Houston Nutt runs an offense (or a program in general).

But let us be clear, the most significant issue with this team (other than Houston Nutt) was Tyrone Nix’s miserable defense. Once teams got inside the red zone against Ole Miss, they scored 95% of the time (84% in 2015). And of those trips in the red zone, opponents scored touchdowns 73% of the time (50% in 2015). All of that helped Ole Miss get outscored in SEC play 301-194, which comes out to an average score of 37.6-24.3 (that’s less than a field goal shy of 40 points allowed in conference games).

Reading these defensive stats can put your imagination to work in creating psychological terror for yourself, but we need to see the actual footage to remind ourselves to scream FIRE EVERYONE if this happens again.

Against Jacksonville State, Ole Miss led 31-13 entering the fourth quarter. The Rebels’ three possessions in the fourth resulted in an interception, turnover on downs, and a field goal, while Jacksonville State scored on its final six possessions of the game (including overtime) by doing things like this:

And this:

And don’t forget this:

If you’ve kept a journal to document this experience, that’s two broken two-point conversions that worked and a touchdown on 4th and 15 from the 30.

Instead of being told he was no longer the coach at Ole Miss, Houston Nutt was allowed to continue coaching and give comments on what he told his players after the game:

I told them that this is when we find out what everybody is about. Everyone can celebrate pretty good when we win. There will be people on the outside trying to turn you into a locker room lawyer, but don’t listen to them, come back and just work.

#LOCKERROOMLAWYER

(brief pause to die of laughter from “locker room lawyer”)

The good news for the 2010 team was that things did get a little better. In the process of defeating Kentucky*, they picked up their first defensive interception on the season and moved to 3-2 and .500 in conference play. The bad news was they were about to play all of the good teams on their schedule.

*Thanks to the Wildcats being awful in 2005 and 2010, Ole Miss only had two 0-8 SEC seasons from 2005-2011 instead of four.

After losing a boring game to Alabama, Ole Miss traveled to Fayetteville, where they found themselves trailing Arkansas 24-3 in the third quarter. Inexplicably, the Rebels didn’t accept an inevitable 45-3 loss, instead rallying to cut the score to 31-24 with nine minutes to play.

If the defense could just get one stop, they had a ch-

Nope.

After the loss, Ole Miss returned to Oxford to host number one Auburn in a game many thought might give the Tigers problems due to their defensive struggles. Wearing their CONFEDERATE GRAY UNIFORMS AMIRITE, the Rebels provided those problems early, as Jeff Scott scored on an 83-yard touchdown less than 30 seconds into the game.

But the real highlight of Scott’s run was on the sideline. Watch Jerrell Powe do his version of high-stepping.

Every breakaway touchdown deserves such a trailing escort.

Sadly, due to the rules of football, Auburn was allowed to have the ball for several possessions. With those possessions, they did things like throw touchdown passes to their starting quarterback.

Despite being incapable of remotely causing any interference with Auburn’s offensive attack, Ole Miss kept it close for most of the first half. With just under three minutes until halftime, the Rebels needed one stop and they’d be within one score when the third quarter open-

Alas.

Auburn would amass 572 yards of total offense (343 rushing yards), and Houston Nutt would leave in the first team offense until the bitter end because only Houston Nutt would care if his team got blown out by 20 instead of 27.

Later that night in the Grove:

“Hey, I sat right behind Archie and Eli at the game.”

“No way! Very cool. I’ll bet you were on TV too.”

“I hope they didn’t catch me looking silly or anything.”

“Nah, I’m sure it was fine.”

A lot going on in that last frame, so let’s rewind and unpack all of the action.

A week after beating Louisiana-Lafayette, Ole Miss had three games remaining on the schedule. Win two of them, and they’re miraculously in a bowl.

The first step towards Birmingham began with a street fight against Tennessee in Knoxville. How did the first step and all of the subsequent steps go?

To summarize:

Ole Miss went on to lose in the last minute against fifth-ranked LSU and got dominated in the Egg Bowl, trailing 31-9 to start the fourth quarter, before losing by eight (WASN’T NO 22 POINTS, Y’ALL) to close out a brutal season.

After 12 games of incompetence, and knowing 2011 would be even worse, there was only thought to have at the end of November 2010:

I WANT TO SEE IT PAINTED, PAINTED BLACK
BLACK AS NIGHT, BLACK AS COAL
I WANT TO SEE THE SUN BLOTTED OUT FROM THE SKY

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Louisville is back in the preseason polls, checking in at #23 in the preseason Amway Coaches Poll.

The Buckeyes picked up two more elite recruits over the last few weeks, and they’re big favorites to land at least two more before the end of August, which could further cement their grip on the most elite recruiting class in Ohio State history. It stands a very good shot at being the top ranked class in the country, even better than a certain school in Tuscaloosa.

The key question at this point seems to be, “How many kids can they take?” After all, half of Ohio State’s team has freshman eligibility, and barring very significant roster attrition, the Buckeyes don’t have room to add too many more bodies.

To discuss this, Matt and Colton reluctantly close the Pokemon Go app for just long enough to record another podcast. They also talk about the potential logjam at quarterback going forward, and why you shouldn’t be upset with Ohio State’s place in Bill Connelly’s Big Ten power rankings.

You can find us on iTunes, thanks to our fancy iTunes page, or our fancy SB Nation podcast page. You can also subscribe via RSS on Android and Windows Phone devices. If you’re listening on iTunes, writing us a nice review would certainly help other people find the show.

Or, you can just listen here:

Thanks for listening. Go Bucks.

F-O-O-T-B-A-L-L I-S- B-A-C-K.

Waking up today is a great day for USC football fans as the Trojans begin fall camp today with their first practice of fall taking place at 5:00 P.T. at Howard Jones Field. Below is the full schedule.

Off the field, the biggest news is that all fall camp practices are open to the public so Trojan fans can go out and see their team in action.

On the field, here are some the storylines that we are watching:

1) Who will be QB?

Gone is Cody Kessler to the Cleveland Browns and the competition is between Max Browne and Sam Darnold. USC Head Coach Clay Helton surprised some people by not naming a quarterback after spring practice so Browne and Darnold will battle it out as we get camp underway.

2) Which WR will step up and start alongside Smith-Schuster?

Steven Mitchell Jr. and Darreus Rogers both struggled with inconsistencies and injuries last year and with opposing defenses attempting to slow down Smith-Schuster, somebody will need to step up and become that true #2 receiver.

3) The defensive line: GULP

Graduations and injuries has USC’s defensive line as a huge unknown and there will be a lot of competition between the trenches. Two freshman to watch: Oluwole Betiku and Connor Murphy. Both were highly touted out of high school and could make an impact from day one.

4) Alabama talk, Alabama talk, Alabama talk

Every off-season conversation about the Trojans has been about the Alabama-USC matchup. Pac-12 Media Day was all about Alabama. I expect a lot of intensity this camp knowing USC opens the season against the defending national champions.

Here we go. Football is back.

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

With Georgia Tech’s fall camp starting up on Thursday, here’s a few things you should know about.