Oh, believe me, I was warned. A campus policeman told me the noise level was going to be really loud, and really exciting. A cheer coach told me that the noise levels would be simply incredible, so long as Tennessee was doing well.

They knew of what they told me.

First, you really can't describe the size of the crowd. I could say it was a sea of orange, but that's a total understatement. Even saying it was an ocean of orange doesn't say it just right. The feeling is more or less like a mass exodus of people from their cars, houses, apartments, or wherever they came from, entering Neyland Stadium as if they were drawn to it magnetically.

The noise level brings a new definition of deafening. When Cal took the field, it was as if anyone dressed in white and blue had committed the most heinous crime ever to be committed on the face of the Earth. The boos echoed past the stadium and down the Smoky Mountains, telling everyone from Knoxville to North Carolina that there were unwelcome visitors in their house. When Tennessee took the field, it was as if everyone in that stadium had found out they won the lottery...at the same time. People were screaming, jumping up and down, hugging others beside them, almost in awe of these collegiate men of orange taking the field.

Every loss of yardage for Cal equaled mass celebrations. Every penalty against Tennessee brought an explosion of boos. And speaking of explosions, every touchdown at Tennessee meant fireworks, cannon booms, and noise levels that reach decibel numbers that would give grown men headaches just to read the number on how loud it was. When Cal had the ball, the noise level was so deafening that your mind could not process any thoughts whatsoever. How the Golden Bears only had one delay of game penalty is amazing. It's actually a credit to their team. How can anyone focus through that noise?

And in the fourth quarter, with the game in hand, Tennessee's fans stayed in the stadium, cheering and yelling as hard as they could for their scrubs, who played just as hard for them as well.

For Shannon Baxter, a freshman on the Volunteer pom squad, it was a perfect setting for her first game.

"I'm very excited," Baxter said. "The crowd is amazing, and the Vols are really doing well."

Maybe it was different last year. Maybe in that 5-6 season of 2005, the crowds weren't as loud. Maybe this crowd was especially loud because it was a Top 10 team visiting Knoxville, or that they needed this win to have hope for the season. But personally, I'll say that's not the case, and wonder how anyone, or any team, has been able to take the field at Neyland and actually win a football game against Tennessee there.

For college football fans, it's a must see. That's as simple as I can put it.