SEC Punishment Loomed for Tennessee After the Upset Win Over Alabama

Tennessee's upset win over Alabama was always likely to come with a price. Sports Illustrated reported that the SEC was set to punish the football program in the aftermath of the victory over the Crimson Tide.

League discipline in situations like this one runs through the conference's access to competition area policy, the rule covering the boundary between the fans and the field, and the conference did in fact announce a fine against Tennessee for a violation of that policy in the days following the game.

For the Volunteers, a fine is a manageable tax on one of the program's biggest wins in years, the sort of result Tennessee would gladly pay a toll to repeat.