I secured my pair of tickets for the Sept. 12 game against UCLA today. Tennessee opens the season a week earlier against Western Kentucky, but UCLA is Lane Kiffin’s first game of significance. I’m jonesing for Kiff & Co. to get this show rolling.

I can almost feel the 90+ degree heat, smell the $5 hot dogs and hear Bobby Denton proclaiming: “It’s football tiiiiiiiime in Tennesseeeeeeee. Good afternoon. Welcome to Neyland Stadium and this afternoon’s game.”

I’m trying to decide on whether to purchase tickets for the Auburn or Georgia game in October. It’s almost inevitable that we will crash and burn at The Swamp on Sept. 19. Couple that with another early-season loss and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be ready for another trek back to Fort Neyland. On the other hand, if Tennessee were to show up with an impressive win over UCLA and just keep it close against Team Tebow, Knoxville might be rocking with anticipation by the time Auburn comes rolling into town Oct. 3 (and we’re way overdue a win against the Plains Tigers).

Watching Monte Kiffin and Ed Orgeron coach up the Tennessee defense this fall is going to be a lot of fun. If we had an offensive line and a quarterback, this season could actually be enjoyable. As it is, I shudder to think about what our offensive production is going to be like.

“Concession prices are found in your souvenier game program on page 130. We urge you to pay these prices and please pay no more!”

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, with a pregame tradition unrivaled in college football, the University of Tennessee Priiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide of the Southland Marching Band!”

Bring on September!