You Got This? Tennessee's Storming Of The Field After Bama Win Will Cost $100,000
So, was it worth it Tennessee? I'm thinking, yeah.
The Southeastern Conference office on Sunday fined the University of Tennessee $100,000 for its raucous postgame celebration at Neyland Stadium Saturday night following the No. 6 Volunteers football team's 52-49 win over No. 3 Alabama.
It was Tennessee's first win over the Crimson Tide since 2006, which was 16-13 in Knoxville, and it's the first as an underdog since 1985 when the No. 20 Vols beat No. 15 Alabama, 16-14, at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama.
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Tennessee is expected to pay the fine, but it doesn't appear to be taking things very seriously, according to a tweet Sunday:
The SEC office's terminology explaining the fine was "for a violation of the league's access to the competition area policy due to fans entering the field following its football game against the University of Alabama on October 15."
In other words, do not carry the goalposts off, which is what happened.
A fundraising effort is also supposedly underway to pay for new goalposts at the VolStarter website, but it sounds like they're kidding. Suggested donations are $16 as the Vols just beat Alabama for the first time in 16 years. Another one is $52.49, which was the final score.
A simpler plan might be to ask each Vol fan in attendance to give one dollar. The capacity crowd at the game was 101,915.
The Alabama fans in attendance will not be asked to give, basically because they already did with 17 penalties - the most under coach Nick Saban at Alabama. He started with the Tide in 2007 and was 15-0 against the Vols. So, thank you, Nick, the Vols Nation is saying, for your team's generous contributions. And you're 15-1 now.
Tennessee Has Violated SEC Access Policy Previously
It's a second offense against Tennessee, but the SEC office cannot view the Vol Nation as wild hoodlums. The last one was at a basketball game in 2006 against Florida. The second offense $100,000 fine will be deposited into the SEC's fund for post graduate scholarships. A first offense fine is $50,000.
The SEC policy used for the fine states that "access to competition areas shall be limited to participating student-athletes, coaches, officials, support personnel and properly-credentialed individuals at all times."
The policy goes on to say that "at no time before, during or after a contest shall spectators be permitted to enter the competition area. It is the responsibility of each member institution to implement procedures to ensure compliance with this policy."
Tennessee promises no policy breaking in its next game. The Vols play Tennessee-Martin Saturday.