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Their football stadiums famously bound by water, perhaps its fitting that Tennessee and Washington are increasingly popular choices to rejoin college footballs high seas this season.The hype is understandable when you survey the two rosters. The Vols return 18 starters from a team that won its last six games a year ago and bring back experienced playmakers at most of the key positions, including nine players earning preseason All-SEC mention. The Huskies return 16 starters from one of the youngest teams in the country a year ago, led by super sophomores Jake Browning at quarterback and Myles Gaskin at running back, and bring back most of the key pieces from the Pac-12s top scoring defense.Both schools won national championships in the 1990s and bring back long (and painful) losing streaks to divisional rivals that span a combined 23 games. Tennessee has lost 11 in a row to Florida, the Vols last win coming back in 2004 when Ron Zook was coaching the Gators and future Hall of Famer Phillip Fulmer had yet to be forced out by his alma mater. Washington has lost 12 in a row to Oregon. The Huskies havent beaten the Ducks since 2003, and most of those games havent been close. Oregons 12 straight wins have come by an average margin of 23.5 points per game.So while expectations may be skyrocketing for the Vols and Huskies, the reality is this: For either program to be whole again, skids that began before high-definition television became popular in this country need to end.The fact that Washington was picked ahead of Oregon (and No. 2 behind Stanford) in the North Division last week at Pac-12 media days caused a few ripples, to the point that Washington coach Chris Petersen was almost cringing when having to discuss his clubs place as one of the preseasons darlings.He even referenced the Pokemon Go craze to describe the hype, and then playfully chided the media.Last year, the preseason hype was that we wouldnt win four games, and they were dead wrong, said Peterson, whose Huskies went 7-6, including a win over eventual Pac-12 South champion USC and a win over Apple Cup rival Washington State. So Im really scared that you guys are dead wrong again, because you usually are.Its not that Petersen doesnt believe in his team. He would just rather not paint a preseason target on a team that still needs to learn how to win, and in truth, might still be a year away. As he pointed out last week, the Huskies were in every game they lost a year ago, with the exception of the Stanford matchup, and going from seven wins to championship contention is a monumental leap most teams dont make in a single year.Ultimately, though, the most telling gauge as to where the program is in Year No. 3 under Petersen will come on Oct. 8; Washington travels to Autzen Stadium to face Oregon, with the Ducks in the midst of an alleged downturn after having the audacity to win just nine games a year ago. Never mind that Mark Helfrich had his team in the national championship game the year before. And never mind that Washington has won nine games in a season just once (2013) since its Rose Bowl championship season in 2000.The door does appear cracked for the Huskies, who hardly need a history lesson in the Oregon-Washington rivalry, which really hasnt been much of one for more than a decade.If we go, you know, 10-1 or 13-1 or however many games we play, and that one loss is to Oregon, Washington senior defensive back Kevin King said, pausing and then sighing as if he didnt want to finish the sentence, that would be tragic.Yes, it certainly would be for those along Union Bay, where Washington last won a Pac-12 (then Pac-10) championship in 2000.We look at it like this is an opportunity that weve created for ourselves, King said. Special teams dont come around often, so weve got to seize the opportunity.As brutal as another loss to Oregon would be for Washington, another Tennessee loss to Florida might well cause a landslide on the banks of the Tennessee River.There hasnt been this much buzz, at least legitimate buzz, surrounding the Vols program since 2001. Coach Butch Jones, in his fourth season, has embraced the expectations and wisely so. Anything less than an SEC championship game appearance this season could make for a long winter on Rocky Top. The Vols won nine games a year ago, but three of their four losses came after they relinquished two-touchdown leads.And, yes, one of those collapses was at Florida, which rallied in the final minutes to stun Tennessee 28-27 on a 63-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-13 play.Floridas coach Jim McElwain reasoned afterward, I think theres a feeling deep down, you know, that we just dont lose to Tennessee, and they didnt.Its a feeling Florida players have trumpeted often this offseason as part of a Twitter spat that hopefully is just a precursor to what we will see on the field this Sept. 24 in Neyland Stadium.When the ESPN Football Power Index tabbed Tennessee as the top team in the SEC East this season, Florida defensive back Jalen Tabor took to Twitter to vent: Well make it 12 years in a row this year.Later, he went after Peyton Manning.Might as well bring the sheriff out of retirement, tweeted Tabor, who ironically enough was serving a one-game suspension last season and didnt even play against the Vols.Tennessee running back Jalen Hurd was quick to return fire with a tweet that read: 6-0, 190. Jst talkin for attention. Not gonna end well buddy.Tabor took aim at Tennessee again during the NBA Finals after Golden State routed Cleveland in Game 2. Tabor was discussing the Cavs loss on Twitter with teammate Quincy Wilson and tweeted: They aint trippin. They just cant hang, something like UT in the fourth lol.Even longtime Gainesville Sun columnist Pat Dooley joined the fray when he compared the Vols to the Kardashians and wrote earlier this month that they had won another summer.And to Dooleys point, lost in all the hype surrounding the Vols is that Florida did win the SEC East championship a year ago in McElwains first season -- without a quarterback for much of the season and with a woefully inexperienced offensive line. The Gators are like a lot of other people around the college football world. They have to see it to believe it.Tennessee is Tennessee, and were Florida, Gators safety Marcus Maye said. So what you see out of that is what you get, and its been that way for a while.Jones message to his players has been that they need to own it, whether thats expectations, their style of play, the football program -- everything.Thats why you come to the University of Tennessee. Thats why you coach at the University of Tennessee, Jones said. You want those expectations.Tennessee and Washington are both trying to break strangleholds in their leagues. The past seven SEC championships have been won by Alabama, Auburn or LSU. The past seven Pac-12 championships have been won by either Oregon or Stanford.Shaking up those mini-monopolies will mean shaking off a pair of epic droughts.Only then will the Vols or the Huskies truly be back. Jaren Jackson Jr. Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Allen Iverson Grizzlies Jersey . 9. Price, heading to the 2014 Olympics for Canada, was named the First Star after posting wins in three starts with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .971 save percentage. http://www.grizzliesbasketballpro.info/Bryant-Reeves-Grizzlies-Jersey/ .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win. Lorenzen Wright Grizzlies Jersey . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. Dillon Brooks Grizzlies Jersey . Neymar curled home a free kick from just outside the area to put the 2014 World Cup host ahead in the 44th minute. Three minutes after the break, a simple through pass from Paulinho freed Oscar and the Chelsea star rounded goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to extend Brazils lead. THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- When the Los Angeles Rams desperately needed a big play in the final minute of their last two games, the defense delivered it.That knack has the Rams (2-1) off to their best start in the decade despite a litany of concerns about everything from scoring to penalties.The sign of a good defense is making big plays, Rams safety T.J. McDonald said. Whenever you can come up with a big tackle or a turnover, youve got to do it. You keep pressing, and the good teams find a way to do it.Los Angeles could need a few more game-changing plays to prosper in its visit to Arizona (1-2) on Sunday for its third NFC West game already this season.The Rams have the NFLs least productive offense through three games after finishing last season at the bottom of the league. Theyve also hurt themselves repeatedly with penalties, ranking among the leagues most frequent offenders with 27 flags for 249 yards.Sure, Los Angeles piled up points last weekend in its 37-32 win over the Buccaneers after managing just nine points in its first two games combined. But the defense was responsible for a big chunk of that outburst: Mark Barrons first-half interception set up one short TD drive, and defensive lineman Ethan Westbrooks returned a fumble 77 yards for another score.And when Jameis Winston drove the Bucs into scoring position in the final seconds, Robert Quinn ended the game by chasing down the star quarterback from behind at the Los Angeles 5.A week earlier, middle linebacker Alec Ogletree made the biggest play by recovering a fumble by Seattles Christine Michael in the final minute, killing the Seahawks last drive and securing a win in Los Angeles homecominng game.ddddddddddddRams coach Jeff Fisher would prefer to get some wins that dont come down the final seconds.You take the wins however you can, he said. In a perfect world, youd like to think you dont need to make that play at the end. But thats something you can hang your hat on, and you can always go back and say `Hey, you made plays at the end, so if it comes up again, just go do it. Do what youve done before.Ogletree has been all over the field for the Rams in his first four games as the replacement for franchise tackling leader James Laurinaitis, who signed a free agent contract with New Orleans in March. While he approves of the defenses knack for big plays, Ogletree shares Fishers desire to make things a bit simpler.We gave up almost 400 yards passing last week, Ogletree said of the Bucs 389 yards through the air. Theres a lot of work to do. It feels good to win, but we know we created a lot of mistakes out there and gave them a lot of opportunities.Ogletree is headed back to the stadium where his 2015 season ended with a broken leg in the Rams fourth game of the year. He has recovered to become a key component of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams scheme.Im not going to go out there thinking, `Oh man, this is where I got hurt, and this is how my season ended last year, Ogletree said. It ended because it ended. I got hurt, and that was the end of it. Its a new year. Im definitely looking forward to going back out there and completing the whole game.---AP NFL websites: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '