with a team that had much less talent than this year's team. Is this Tennessee team really much tougher if at all? I admit I didn't factor something like playing in the humidity. My "tough opponents" post was strictly about the opponents themselves.

I don't know if that stuff is enough to make them tougher. It's not like USC gets less talent than a program like Tennessee. And their style this year will not match up well at all with BYU's style of play. BYU's actually does match up with Tennessee. It's hard to say right now, and I'm not really considering stuff like "playing in the heat." Can't we say the same thing about teams coming to play us at high elevation?

I'd bet the weather even in September this year will be better in Knoxville than it was in Starkville in 2017. I was at that game and it was awful. Even Miss St fans were surprised and dying out there. That was rough to deal with in October.

I don't like making assumptions about weather or stadiums. Those things may or may not be factors in "toughness." I want to know about the opponent.