The 2017 Life Championship tracker: Where is Butch Jones’ award this week?
We’ll track the made-up title belt’s movements all year.
By Alex Kirshner on August 22, 2017 8:00 am
Who has the Champions of Life belt?
Nov. 21 to Nov. 27, 2016: Tennessee
Nov. 27 to Dec. 26, 2016: Vanderbilt
Dec. 26, 2016 to current: NC State
Wait, what is the Champions of Life belt?
In 2016, Tennessee squandered a 5-0 start and wins over Florida and Georgia and lost the SEC East race to the Gators. But Vols coach Butch Jones emphasized the positives:
Tennessee became the Champions of Life in that moment, period. (This was one of several goofy motivational statements by Jones.)
Unfortunately, Tennessee lost to Vanderbilt right after Jones’ comment. That means the Commodores took the Life Championship Belt away.
Then NC State beat Vanderbilt in their bowl game. That made the Wolfpack the Life Champions for a solid nine months heading into the 2017 season.
And that’s how we got here.
We’re going to track the movements of the Life Championship Belt all season long.
The rules are simple: If you beat the current Life Champ, you become the Life Champ. That gives the belt a chance to traverse the entire country in one season.
When’s the next Champions of Life title match?
NC State plays South Carolina in Charlotte (3 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN).
Can Tennessee somehow get it back?
Tennessee plays the Gamecocks on Oct. 14. So if Will Muschamp’s team can beat the Wolfpack and then win five more games to start 6-0, the Vols will get a chance to win this thing back as soon as Week 7. A chance to become the first-ever two-time Champions of Life champ is awfully tantalizing.