Again for the cheap seats. I am not saying Tennessee sucks. I do not think they do. I was responding to someone who repeatedly said Missouri sucks and doesn’t belong in the SEC. I responded by saying if that is the case the Tennessee is in a similar situation. The last 10 years (I chose that because that’s how long they have been in the SEC) Missouri has been better than Tennessee. If you disagree with that, then call them even. Tennessee certainly has not been better overall than Missouri since they have been in the SEC.
I personally don’t think either team sucks. I just think it’s ridiculous for a couple Tennessee fans to be that critical of a team that imo has been better than them since coming to the SEC.
Since Missouri joined the league, they are 5-5 head to head vs Tennessee. Historically, Tennessee is a much better program...but Missouri's ceiling and Tennessee's basement have overlapped this past decade. For perspective:
In the history of the program (120 years), Missouri has had 6 season where they have won 10 or more games. Of those 6 seasons, 2 have been in the last 10 years (since joining the SEC). Missouri has had 40 seasons where they have lost 7 or more games. They have 6 seasons where they have lost 10 or more.
In their 117 year history, Tennessee has had 9 seasons where they have lost 7 or more games (Tennessee has had one 8 loss season and has never lost more than 8 games). Of those 9 seasons, 4 have been in the last 10 years (since Missouri joined the SEC). Tennessee has had 19 seasons where they have won 10 or more games with at least one in ever decade from the 1930s through the 2000s (with the exception of the 1960s). UT did not have any 10 win seasons in the 2010s or yet in the 2020s...
Their thought process (albeit possibly flawed) is that UT and Missouri will both return to the mean of what their programs have been historically...UT will return to being a very good (but not elite) program. Missouri will return to being a slightly below average program (and that the current 3 game winning streak that UT has over Missouri is a glimpse into what direction both programs are heading).
I will add that, personally, I like Missouri. I'm just trying to show the argument that a lot of UT fans have regarding the current state of their program. As for UT...coaching hires post Kiffin (until Heupel) have been a disaster. Josh Dobbs bailed Butch Jones out of the fire so many times...without him, UT has been garbage (for the most part) since 2007. Take out the '15 and '16 seasons where Dobbs was a 1 man show...and Missouri has definitely been the more stable program.
The people who say Missouri doesn't belong in the SEC are similar to Big-10 fans who would say that Rutgers and Maryland (or Nebraska, for that matter) don't belong in your conference. They are people who are stuck in 1980s mindsets of what conferences are or what they should be. Expansion has happened, and will happen again. The old farts have to just accept it and embrace the new normal.