At Tennessee, quarterback Peyton Manning's quest for a national championship was the stuff of legend.
He never could quite lead the Volunteers to the Promised Land. In 1995, Tennessee collapsed at Florida and settled for a Citrus Bowl berth. In 1996, losses to the Gators and Memphis sent the Volunteers back to Orlando. And in 1997, Manning couldn’t lead one-loss Tennessee past Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, which could have given the Volunteers a share of the crown with Michigan.
ESPN, however, wrote an alternate history during the Orange Bowl Friday night. On its broadcast of Tennessee’s 31–14 win over Clemson, a chyron proclaimed Manning a “1998 National Champion,” despite the fact that the same graphic correctly identified Manning’s college career as having lasted from 1994 to ’97.
