More than 32,000 of you have voted early in advance of the Aug. 2 election day through Saturday and going into the final week of early voting, which runs through July 28. That compares to 37,168 early voters through the first eight days in 2014 for this same election cycle and 41,310 in 2010 at the same point. In 2010 and 2014 there were 21 early voting sites compared to today’s 27. And the Downtown location was the only site open for the first two days of those early voting periods compared to five of the 27 sites open for the first three days of the current period. For the full 2014 early voting period, keeping in mind the differences, there were 82,403 early voters and in 2010 there were 93,700.

2. In Face of 6-26 SEC Record Over Four Years, Vanderbilt's Mason Believes Team on Brink of a Breakthrough - Monday, July 23, 2018

The question was natural, maybe even innocent. During Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason’s appearance at SEC Media Days in Atlanta last week, he was asked about going on the road to play Notre Dame early in the season, the challenge it would pose.

3. Latest SEC Football Rankings: 1. Sexton. 2. Saban. - Friday, December 8, 2017

Fourteen schools play football in the SEC. Six of them, or 42.9 percent, now have a different man coaching their football team than they had at the start of the season.

That’s a lot of turnover. It suggests coaching in the SEC is often a battle against personal extinction.

4. Life of a Quarterback - Friday, October 6, 2017

Senior Austin Allen watched his older brother Brandon live the highs and the lows of the thrill ride that is being a starting quarterback for Arkansas in the SEC.

5. Vandy-Bama Finds Relevance Under Mason - Friday, September 22, 2017

Who would’ve thought the center of the Southeastern Conference football universe would be Nashville in late September?

Sure, it’s always a big deal when Alabama comes to town – any town. The Crimson Tide is, as usual, ranked No. 1. Nick Saban has created yet another monster.

6. Titans Begin Season With Questions At Wide Receiver - Friday, September 8, 2017

For most of their two decades in Tennessee, the wide receiver position has been a glaring hole for the Titans.

Other than the years when Derrick Mason and Drew Bennett were among Steve McNair’s primary targets, and an occasional quality free agent signing like Nate Washington, there have been many swings and misses when it comes to the Titans and the wide receiver position.

7. After Returning to a Bowl Game, Vanderbilt Looks to Go Higher in SEC East - Tuesday, August 29, 2017

It’s always good to know who you are. Gives you a foundation. A starting place.

“We know the academics is a huge piece of our identity as a Vanderbilt football player,” said senior Oren Burks, who has moved from safety to linebacker. “But at end of the day, it’s about winning. That’s why you play.”

8. Looks Like Another 8-4 Season for Tennessee - Friday, August 25, 2017

Oops. I goofed last year. So did lots of other people who thought Tennessee’s football team would win the SEC East Division and go to the league championship game for the first time since 2007.

9. SEC Hot Seat Index: From Saban to Sumlin - Friday, July 21, 2017

When it comes to Southeastern Conference football coaches, there are three kinds of seats – hot, hotter and hottest.

There is, of course, one exception. You guessed it.

Nick Saban. To quote the late ESPN anchor Stuart Scott, Saban’s seat is as cool as the other side of your pillow.

10. National Title is Success for Alabama, Not Other SEC Teams - Friday, July 14, 2017

HOOVER, Ala. – They play in the same conference, but in different worlds. Alabama defines success as winning a national championship.

The rest of the Southeastern Conference?

If they’re honest, those teams now define success as how close they can come to Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide. They define success with the knowledge that there is the preeminent program in college football – winners of four national titles since 2009 and only a play away in 2016 – and then there are the other 13 teams in the SEC.

11. Enough Expectations to Go Around as SEC Football Season Approaches - Thursday, July 13, 2017

HOOVER, Ala. – The countdown to the start of the next college football season is now measured in weeks, not months. But at an event such as SEC Media Days, the future is always framed by the past.

12. Bielema Sees Progress on Targeting Rule; Open Door at Tennessee for Fulmer - Wednesday, July 12, 2017

HOOVER, ALA. – Arkansas coach Bret Bielema understands as well as anyone that football and the risk of severe injury can’t be separated. Running back Rawleigh Williams gained more than 1,300 yards last year. But he suffered a second neck injury in this year’s spring game and decided, after consulting with doctors, to retire from the game.

13. Sports Notebook: Grizz Moves Bring Tyreke Evans Back to Memphis - Monday, July 10, 2017

The Memphis Grizzlies continued changing their roster for the upcoming season by agreeing to a one-year contract with free agent guard Tyreke Evans.

Evans, according to ESPN, will make $3.3 million on the one-year deal. Evans, 27, played one year for the University of Memphis and then was the fourth overall pick in the 2009 draft by the Sacramento Kings.

14. SEC Ready to Tee Up Media Days; UT’s AD Raises the Bar - Monday, March 6, 2017

It’s almost time to kick off the 2017 college football season. And by that we mean that SEC Media Days should again be flagged for encroachment on summer.

The conference has not yet jumped in front of the Fourth of July, but SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama, continues to move ever closer to summer’s signature date.

15. SEC Grades: ‘A’ for Alabama; UT, Ole Miss Should Be Grounded - Friday, December 2, 2016

Even as the Ole Miss football program was reeling from an NCAA investigation that gained momentum on the night of the NFL Draft when a former player said he received money from a staff member, optimism about the season ahead was still high.

16. Fuente Succeeding at Va. Tech, Norvell Keeping it Rolling at Memphis - Monday, November 28, 2016

With a thrilling 48-44 victory over then-No. 20 Houston the day after Thanksgiving, Mike Norvell became the only first-year University of Memphis coach to win eight games.

Interestingly, his eighth victory came as Tom Herman coached his last game at Houston. Herman is the new coach at Texas, succeeding Charlie Strong. The coaching ladder in the American Athletic Conference can definitely reach into the Power Five.

17. Florida Didn’t Kill UT’s Season; Vanderbilt Could - Thursday, November 24, 2016

Tennessee’s primary goal for the 2016 football season was to win the SEC East Division, and the Vols failed.

Does that mean the season was a failure?

Not yet.

Not until the No. 24-ranked Vols play Vanderbilt on Saturday night (7:30, SEC Network) in Nashville and find out their bowl destination.

18. Bama Best, Auburn on the Rise, and Houston a Mere Pretender - Wednesday, October 26, 2016

The first College Football Playoff rankings come out on Nov. 3, after Week 9. The final ranking is issued on Dec. 6. After eight weeks, we don’t know what the four-team playoff will look like, but we have a pretty good idea what it won’t look like.

19. Looks Like 10-2, SEC Title Game, Orange Bowl for UT - Monday, September 5, 2016

Editor’s note: Nashville sports correspondent Dave Link has been accurate in predicting season outcomes for the Tennessee Vols in recent years. His 2016 season predictions, released just before press time, culminates with an SEC Championship appearance. Here’s his take on the season…

20. Safe to Scorching: SEC Coaches Feel the Burn - Friday, August 12, 2016

There are two kinds of football coaches in the Southeastern Conference: those that have gotten fired and those that haven’t gotten fired – yet.

This is a conference in a constant state of flux for football. The average tenure at their current schools of the 14 SEC coaches is 3.57 years. That’s right: Just making it through a full four-year recruiting cycle is tough.

21. Too Big To Ignore: The SEC and Its Ever-Growing Football Media Days - Saturday, July 16, 2016

HOOVER, Ala. – The SEC football preseason always has been loud. More than 30 years ago, the noise came via the Skywriters Tour and the rattle and roar of a DC-3 propeller plane carrying rumpled, hardworking – and often hard-drinking – sports writers to the 10 Southeastern Conference campuses for essentially unfettered access to the league’s coaches and players.

22. MSU’s Mullen Defends Simmons At Media Days - Wednesday, July 13, 2016

HOOVER, Ala. – In another year and another circumstance, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen might have spent all his time at SEC Media Days answering questions about having to replace Dak Prescott at quarterback.

23. Last Word: Tri-State's Deal With First Tennessee, Matt Barnes' Fine and The Grind - Monday, January 18, 2016

It sounds strange to refer to this as a holiday weekend – the anniversary of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Holidays suggest something different than the rededication to purpose so many of us stress as our definition of this day honoring the memory of a leader whose life made it difficult to imagine what our society would be like without his presence.
That we feel compelled to express the meaning of the day through actions and a recommitment to principles buffeted by reality reflects a hope that we wish to retain as first-hand memories of King’s life fade and his legacy endures.

24. Can Vanderbilt Pull Off One More SEC Win Against Vols? - Saturday, November 28, 2015

Tennessee football fans already are talking about their bowl destinations for the Christmas holidays.

Will it be the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, the Music City Bowl in Nashville or the Outback Bowl in Tampa?

25. College Football Notebook: As Usual, LSU And Alabama Control SEC West - Tuesday, November 3, 2015

So here we are back at a familiar place: LSU vs. Alabama in a game that goes a long way toward determining the SEC West champion. And by extension, in all probability, the SEC champion. (Sorry Florida, but in this corner, we’re not true believers yet.)

26. Ole Miss, Alabama Face Rematch - Thursday, September 17, 2015

A year ago, Ole Miss put up 13 fourth-quarter points to rally and defeat Alabama 23-17 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford. The victory wasn’t secure until 37 seconds were left in the game and Senquez Golson intercepted a Blake Sims pass in the end zone with an acrobatic catch that required an official’s review to be ruled valid.

27. Alabama Still Team to Beat, Tennessee On the Rise in 2015 Football Season - Friday, August 14, 2015

Dak Prescott, the best returning quarterback in the Southeastern Conference, isn’t buying the national narrative that the league is “down” because the first College Football Playoff title game featured Ohio State beating Oregon.

28. College Football Notebook: Nick Saban Needs a Quarterback - Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Another season at Alabama and another battle for quarterback.

Last year’s runner-up, Florida State transfer Jacob Coker, returns for a second shot at the job after losing out to Blake Sims in 2014. Redshirt freshman David Cornwell showed enough last spring to become a contender, and the race may be wide enough open to go beyond these two if neither can assert himself as the leader of the offense.

29. Preseason Analysis: Vols Will Defeat Oklahoma, Finish 8-4 - Saturday, August 8, 2015

Tennessee’s football team has something to prove as it concludes the first week of preseason practices and moves forward to the 2015 season.

The Vols must prove they belong in the national picture in Butch Jones’ third year as coach.

30. ECS Graduate Now ‘Pancaking’ Defenders at Vanderbilt - Monday, July 20, 2015

Do you believe in love at first sight? For an offensive lineman?

“I went to my first game and saw what I now know is the offensive and defensive line, and I said I just wanted to be one of those guys,” senior Vanderbilt center Spencer Pulley said. “It might have been a poor choice at the time, but it’s worked out all right.”

31. For Vanderbilt’s Williams, It’s Not All About Game-Day Attendance - Saturday, July 18, 2015

Vanderbilt, the smallest and only private school in the SEC, has always lagged the league in attendance.

The Commodores, even during the back-to-back 9-4 teams of 2012 (37,860) and ’13 (35,675), failed to fill the stadium (capacity (40,550).

32. SEC is Better With Steve Spurrier in It - Friday, July 17, 2015

HOOVER, Ala. – If you’re a Tennessee fan, you don’t like him. He was the one who said you can’t spell Citrus without “U-T.”

He started his record-setting 23rd appearance as a coach at the 2015 SEC Media Days by zinging the Vols for their 7-6 season, saying they were “celebrating big” while casting South Carolina’s 7-6 season as a disaster averted.

33. Steve Spurrier Pokes Fun at Tennessee, Arkansas - Wednesday, July 15, 2015

HOOVER, ALA. – South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier wasted no time taking his first jabs at other SEC schools. As he made his opening remarks at SEC Media Days Tuesday, July 14, at The Wynfrey Hotel, he spoke of the joy he and his team felt by rallying at season’s end to get to a bowl game, then win the Independence Bowl against Miami and finish 7-6.

34. New Chip Credit Cards Putting Squeeze on Small Businesses - Monday, June 29, 2015

NEW YORK (AP) — New credit and debit cards with computer chips are putting the squeeze on small businesses.

The cards being rolled out by banks and credit card companies are aimed at reducing fraud from counterfeit cards. As chip cards are phased in, magnetic stripe cards, which are easier for thieves to copy, will be phased out. Businesses of all sizes face an Oct. 1 deadline to get new card readers and software that can handle chips. Most estimates of transition costs for small companies vary from the low hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars due to the wide range of equipment used.

35. Dobbs the Latest in Line of Dual-Threat UT Quarterbacks - Saturday, November 29, 2014

If the University of Tennessee’s football team gains bowl eligibility with a victory Saturday at Vanderbilt, it can look back to a quarterback change Oct. 25 against Alabama as a pivotal point in the season.

36. Vols Unlikely to Repeat November 2013 Collapse - Saturday, November 15, 2014

KNOXVILLE – University of Tennessee football coach Butch Jones doesn’t have to remind his team about the disappointing fade last November.

UT went 0-3 to start what has historically been its best month of football. First, the Vols lost to Missouri and Auburn. Then a 14-10 loss to Vanderbilt in Neyland Stadium knocked the Vols out of bowl eligibility.

37. Vols Hope to Snap 20-Game Road Slump vs. Ranked Opponents - Saturday, September 27, 2014

KNOXVILLE – It doesn’t get much easier for the University of Tennessee’s football team.

The Sept. 20 open date has come and gone. UT’s coaches and players had ample time to digest and dissect details of the 34-10 loss to No. 4-ranked Oklahoma on Sept. 13 and a week to prepare for a challenge just as formidable.

38. Wade: College Football Returns With Passion - Friday, August 29, 2014

First off, I don’t believe everything that Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper says.

“Coach Lane Kiffin is a great coach and a great person to be around,” Cooper said of the Crimson Tide’s new offensive coordinator. “Coach is a likable guy.”

39. Mason: Vanderbilt Success More Than Defeating UT - Saturday, August 23, 2014

Coach Derek Mason is determined to put his own mark of toughness on the Vanderbilt University football program as it continues its climb into the ranks of conference heavyweights.

40. Vols: Looks Like 6-6 Season - Saturday, August 23, 2014

Pull out your 2014 schedules, UT fans.

Fall camp is done, and it’s time to get in game-week mode with the season opener against Utah State fast approaching.

So go to the little box next to each of UT’s opponents on the 2014 schedule and pick the winner.

41. Vanderbilt Students Find Happiness in Music City - Saturday, August 23, 2014

As the Class of 2018 begins to poke around the Vanderbilt University campus, the newest Commodores will be met with the highest of expectations.

“This class is projected to have the highest academic quality in our history as measured by high school class rank and SAT scores,’’ says Doug Christiansen, vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions.

42. Bigger, Better, Louder - Saturday, August 16, 2014

“When it comes to college football, the South has no equal, because the Southeastern Conference has no equal. Find me a conference with a better commissioner, better players, better head coaches, better staffs, better game-day atmospheres, better-looking coeds – better anything.”

43. No Crying in Vanderbilt Football, Not Anymore - Friday, July 18, 2014

HOOVER, Ala. – Before James Franklin, Vanderbilt never had been to consecutive bowl games. He took them to three in three years.