The poll's open! Knoxville's in contention for 'America's Best College Sports Town'

Photo by Michael Patrick // Buy this photo

Tennessee fans cheer loudly following the Vols' touchdown in the start of the third quarter against Florida Saturday, Sep. 18, 2010 in Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, which is in the running for "America's Best College Sports Town."

We’ve had some dark days in Big Orange country lately, including last week's firing of Coach Bruce Pearl, and the worst part for some UT fans is that they’ve been powerless to do anything about it.

Well, The Clutch blog, on MTV.com, is giving you a chance to do something positive. Knoxville is one of four cities now competing in the Final Four of the blog’s “America’s Best College Sports Town” poll.

Knoxville won the poll’s South Region a couple of weeks ago, overcoming a sluggish start to win handily over Gainesville, Fla., Athens, Ga., and Oxford, Miss.

But taking the championship won’t be so easy: All of the other Final Four competitors are likewise regional champs, including Morgantown, W.Va. (East Region), Madison, Wis. (Midwest), and Eugene, Ore. (West).

Update: As of 11:30 a.m. Monday, March 28, Madison was still in the lead with 35.13 percent of the vote, Morgantown was second with 28.05 percent, Knoxville rose slightly to 24.56 percent, and Eugene was trailing with 12.27 percent.

Let’s face it, players, coaches and athletic directors come and go, but two constants for UT sports are fans and the city of Knoxville.

Here’s your opportunity to put those two together and give us something to celebrate.

But hurry: The poll closes at noon, Monday, March 28. So vote now.

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