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If Vol Insider knows his stuff -- and let's face it, he almost always does -- Phillip Fulmer's squad could be destined for a second straight trip to Atlanta next December.

Think back to this time last year. Headed into the 2007 season, the all-knowing Insider conceded Tennessee likely would sustain early losses at California and Florida.

He then made the stunning prediction that the September setbacks wouldn't keep the Vols from reaching the Georgia Dome as the SEC's Eastern Division representative.

Insider had it right, but can the Vols make him look good two years in a row? You can reach your own conclusions Saturday afternoon at the Orange and White game.

But one word of warning: Nobody ever got rich picking against Vol Insider.

He is more cautious this year, understanding that wholesale changes in the offense from David Cutcliffe's direction to Dave Clawson's will take time to put into high gear.

"This is in no way a putdown of Clawson, but he will be shocked game after game as he finds out how tough every SEC team can be, even the so-called 'bad' ones," Insider said.

"You remember at the end of Urban Meyer's first season at Florida, he was still shaking his head concerning the speed of the game in the SEC. There is really no way to be prepared for that except by experiencing it first-hand."

Clawson, who came to UT from a successful run as head coach at the University of Richmond, has done a good job of installing his offense, Insider says.

"I like what I've seen and heard from the new staff. But, in any event, the jury is out on how things are going to work until the team has played a few games."

As the only position on offense that is shy of experience, quarterback comes into question following the departure of four-year starter Erik Ainge.

Don't let that bother you, Insider advises.

"All three quarterbacks -- Jonathan Crompton, Nick Stephens and B.J. Coleman -- have the ability to play SEC-level football." He believes at some point Coleman may apply heat to Crompton's grasp on the first-team job.

Befitting his background as a former Tennessee assistant coach who maintains close ties within the department, Insider looks closely at the Vol defense and finds one loss from last season especially disturbing.

Jerod Mayo's decision to turn professional could have serious consequences. "Too bad from UT's standpoint that Mayo didn't stay around for his senior year. I'm not sure everybody realizes how great a linebacker Tennessee had in Mayo."

The Tennessee record book supports Insider's concern. You have to flip the pages back to 1988, when Keith DeLong had 150 tackles, to find a player with more stops than Mayo's total of 140 last season.

The secondary, Insider reports, is as loaded with talent as any he has seen at Tennessee. Depth is questionable at tackle, however, where Demonte Bolden, Dan Williams and Walter Fisher need backups for positions where contact takes a heavy toll.

"Let's play the schedule and see what happens," he concluded. "But right now, I expect the season to play out about like last year's."

n Insider parts company with other prognosticators who are ready to hand the 2008 SEC championship to Georgia.

"I look at personnel, and then I look at the schedule," he says. "Georgia has the players and an outstanding coach in Mark Richt. But I don't like the schedule. It's a killer."

The Bulldogs face the usual gauntlet of SEC Eastern Division foes, plus the three toughest draws out of the West -- LSU, Auburn and Alabama. In non-conference play, they take on Georgia Tech and meet Arizona State on the road.

Not an easy path for a team that has national-championship aspirations.

n Maryville's Beth Sparks, who works as a student assistant in UT's sports information office, has been chosen to sing the National Anthem on Friday night before the Circle K Colossal 100 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

Congratulations are in order for the Heritage High School graduate, who came to wide public attention with her pleasing rendition of the anthem before a Tennessee home basketball game last winter.

Haywood Harris is a former Associate Athletics Director for Media Relations at the University of Tennessee. Write to him at: Haywood Harris, c/o The Daily Times, P.O. Box 9740, Maryville, TN 37802-9740.