Vols ranked 19th in Phil Steele Power Poll

#1
Freak

Freak

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#1
I know, I know. Not another poll. But I personally always like following Phil Steele's work more than some of the others. He lists the top 128 on his website, but here's the best 25 as released today. Note Bama, Georgia and LSU are all in the top 10, with Auburn, Mississippi and Arkansas also ranked ahead of Tennessee.

1. Ohio St
2. TCU
3. Alabama
4. USC
5. Baylor
6. Oregon
7. Georgia
8. Stanford
9. Florida St
10. LSU
11. Michigan St
12. UCLA
13. Notre Dame
14. Auburn
15. Mississippi
16. Oklahoma
17. Wisconsin
18. Arkansas
19. Tennessee
20. Virginia Tech
21. Utah
22. Clemson
23. Oklahoma St
24. Georgia Tech
25. Miami, Fl


Phil Steele
 
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#3
#3
About where I expected us to be. I am surprised by how high TCU is though. I am just not sold that they are a playoff team coming into this year. I admit I don't follow the other conferences nearly as close as the SEC though...so i guess its just more of a hunch.
 
#4
#4
VOLS INC. said:
About where I expected us to be. I am surprised by how high TCU is though. I am just not sold that they are a playoff team coming into this year. I admit I don't follow the other conferences nearly as close as the SEC though...so i guess its just more of a hunch.
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Dey good..................have a pretty darn good QB too
 
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#7
#7
BearCat204 said:
Would put us at #1, but I might sound biased
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Biased? Pssshhh.

Seriously though, I think 19 is pretty fair. I'd say it's a bit more realistic place to begin the season than some of the other projections I've seen.
 
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#9
#9
You ask me I think 19 is a lil too generous and Mr Steele is sleeping on Mizzou, they should be should be in the top 25 if we are.
 
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#11
#11
I'll take it as what it is.
A preseason book that is worth squat.
Nice to read but that's about it.
 
#13
#13
Volunteer_Kirby said:
You ask me I think 19 is a lil too generous and Mr Steele is sleeping on Mizzou, they should be should be in the top 25 if we are.
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I guess you forgot that this is a poll for NEXT season not last. Missouri lost both their stud DEs that led the defense. Plus the 2 guys that were set to replace them (Marcus Loud and Harold Brantley) have been lost for the season. One to dismissal the other to injury. The position that was their most siginficant strength over the last 2 years is lost. They also lost all their WRs. Plus they don't recruit at an elite enough level to just replace those guys with college-ready players.

Mizzou is headed for a back to reality check this season.
 
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#14
#14
VOLS INC. said:
About where I expected us to be. I am surprised by how high TCU is though. I am just not sold that they are a playoff team coming into this year. I admit I don't follow the other conferences nearly as close as the SEC though...so i guess its just more of a hunch.
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They were playoff contenders last year. Part of that rating, of course, may be predicated on the single most impressive bowl performance of the 2014 season, their 42-3 annihilation of then 9th-ranked Ole Miss.
 
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#15
#15
Freak said:
Biased? Pssshhh.

Seriously though, I think 19 is pretty fair. I'd say it's a bit more realistic place to begin the season than some of the other projections I've seen.
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It's right in line with most preseason publications, which forecast either an 8-4 or 9-3 regular season record and a final ranking between 14th and 21st.
 
#16
#16
I expect big things from Team 119. The first order of business is making sure Phil knows he was wrong to put Arkansas in front of us.
 
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#17
#17
Volosaurus rex said:
They were playoff contenders last year. Part of that rating, of course, may be predicated on the single most impressive bowl performance of the 2014 season, their 42-3 annihilation of then 9th-ranked Ole Miss.
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I would've liked to see them in the playoffs.
 
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#18
#18
The write-up that accompanies this list notes that it's a "power poll" (equivalent to ESPN's FPI), not a true Top 25 (prediction of how each team will do). The difference is, Top 25 tries to predict where teams will end up after playing the season; power poll does not take schedule difficulty into account. Phil Steele does prepare a separate Top 25; doesn't look like he's published it yet for 2015 pre-season.

So he thinks we're the 19th best team in the country ... but is not predicting that we'll finish #19 after running the gauntlet of our season.

I would expect to see SEC teams shift down a bit, generally, in the Top 25. Because playing 4, 5, 6, even 8 other ranked teams is significantly more than teams in most other conferences have to do.
 
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#20
#20
Volunteer_Kirby said:
You ask me I think 19 is a lil too generous and Mr Steele is sleeping on Mizzou, they should be should be in the top 25 if we are.
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Mizzoo? Pinkel is dangerous good as a coach but the talent drop off from 2014 to 2015 is going to be hard for the tigers to overcome. Dline has been decimated, Sasser is gone and that leaves Mauk and Hansborough on O.
 
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#22
#22
If we lost only to the teams ahead of us that's 8-4 with wins against USC, UF, & Mizzou. I'd be ok with that.
 
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#25
#25
"The Power Poll also differs from my Top 40 in terms of its rationale. The difference is straightforward: my Top 40 is a projection of where each team will finish, while the Power Poll is a ranking of each team based on their overall talent level. So why are the rankings different? The reason is schedule: one team may be more talented than another, but finish with a worse record based on a tougher schedule."

Where are we in his top 40 projection? That's the question
 
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