In October, Tennessee and Nebraska were both top-10. Now they’re in the Music City Bowl :(

SEC East favorite Tennessee peaked as high as No. 9 in the AP Poll this year, sitting at 5-1 on Oct. 10. The Vols would’ve likely ranked higher at that point if their five wins had been more authoritative; they’d made a habit of escaping against less-talented teams. Still, all their season goals were still on the table.

They’d quickly be swept off by three straight losses and a later bonus loss to Vanderbilt.

Nebraska ranked one spot behind in that week’s poll and would climb to No. 7 two weeks later. At 7-0, the Huskers were an upset win away from making themselves a Playoff topic.

The upset win would not arrive. The Huskers lost to Ohio State by 59 and lost two other games and are currently unranked.

They might’ve had the country’s two biggest post-mid-October tumbles of anybody outside the state of Texas (hello to Baylor, Houston, Texas A&M, and so forth), but one gets to salvage a bowl win. How much will that matter?

For Nebraska, a loss and a 9-4 season wouldn’t be all that discouraging overall, in only Year 2 of the Mike Riley era. Sure, previous coach Bo Pelini managed that kind of record annually and has his new team in the FCS championship, but ... uh, he’s not there any more. Reasons. A 10-3 year would count as a success for sure.

Tennessee crowned itself the Champion of Life, a title that now resides in Raleigh, and an 8-5 final record would have Butch Jones on every hot seat list entering 2017, considering this was supposed to be the year his tenure had built toward. A 9-4 finish that included a blowout win would restore some confidence, but if the Vols sneak to a dubious victory that reminds fans of September, tensions will remain high.

Tennessee opened as a field goal favorite, and the spread has since grown to 10 points. These Vols have not handled high expectations all that well.