Urban Meyer knows a thing or two about winning conference championships. Meyer won seven total conference championships during his coaching career with three in the Big Ten, two in the SEC, and two in the Mountain West conference.
The three-time National Champion looks to have his eye on Tennessee coming out of the Vols’ win over Oklahoma, too.
“I have them No. 4, potentially the No. 3 team in the country right now,” Meyer said about Tennessee on this week’s episode of The Triple Option podcast.
“So you have [Tennessee] winning the SEC?” co-host Rob Stone replied to Meyer.
“No, I didn’t say that,” Meyer said. “I’ve got Georgia still up there, (but) I think they’ll be in the SEC Championship game.”
Meyer raved about Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava coming out of the Vols season opener but has been impressed with the Vols’ offensive balance and defensive backbone through their first four games.
“I’ve got inside information there and I ask every week, I have an NFL guy that scouts around and helps me with some stuff,” Meyer said on the show. “When he made the comment it looks like Tennessee of old, that’s the respect I have for the old Tennessee outfit. I know Nico I., the quarterback, we all love him. I think he’s certainly a Heisman candidate, I think he’s a Top 10 pick after that. He’s got to do a couple things a little better. They went into Norman, Oklahoma, and when you go into Norman, Oklahoma – he had a good day but you’re at Oklahoma and you find a way to go win that game. So as I said on [Fox Sports] Big Noon, I’m going to say it again this week, he is not the only show in Knoxville. They are balanced on offense, they have a good run game, they’re good in the trenches and they’re very good on defense. Obviously, we’re going to find out – they’re jumping into the rest of the SEC coming up here.”
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Tennessee set the SEC title as a goal before the season but the team has always held a next-game-only mentality through Josh Heupel’s four years in Knoxville. The Vols have an open date this weekend but will return to SEC play with a road game against the Arkansas Razorbacks next Saturday night.
According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, Tennessee has a 13.7 percent chance to win the SEC, which is the fourth-highest among the conference teams. Texas leads at 39.6 percent followed by Alabama at 20.3 percent and Ole Miss at 16.3 percent.
Tennessee does have a route to the SEC Championship game, though. To see a rooting guide for Tennessee’s SEC Championship game and playoff hopes, check out Rocky Top Insider’s Saturday guide here.
Check out Urban Meyer’s full clip from The Triple Option podcast below:
