Tennessee ranked 15th in CFN's preseason poll

[vtvol98]

Scout.com: 2015 CFN Preseason Rankings - No. 11 to 20

15. Tennessee
2014 CFN Season Ranking: 49 2015 Prediction: 7-5
3 Best Players: 1) DE Derek Barnett, Soph. 2) QB Joshua Dobbs, Jr. 3) LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Jr.
Relative Strengths: 1) Receiver, 2) Linebacker, 3) Quarterback
Not Quite As Strong ... 1) Offensive Line, 2) Defensive Line, 3) Running Back
The season will be a success if … Tennessee wins the SEC East. Yeah, it’s a big leap for a team that came up with just seven wins last season, but with the returning experience and talent, anything other than a trip to Atlanta will seem a bit empty. Dealing with Arkansas and Alabama from the West won’t make it easy, but with Georgia and South Carolina coming to Knoxville, the Vols have their shot to make a massive jump.

I know that this is just another preseason poll but it is good to see our Vols getting some early love.

 

[jakez4ut]

Scout.com: 2015 CFN Preseason Rankings - No. 11 to 20

15. Tennessee
2014 CFN Season Ranking: 49 2015 Prediction: 7-5
3 Best Players: 1) DE Derek Barnett, Soph. 2) QB Joshua Dobbs, Jr. 3) LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Jr.
Relative Strengths: 1) Receiver, 2) Linebacker, 3) Quarterback
Not Quite As Strong ... 1) Offensive Line, 2) Defensive Line, 3) Running Back
The season will be a success if … Tennessee wins the SEC East. Yeah, it’s a big leap for a team that came up with just seven wins last season, but with the returning experience and talent, anything other than a trip to Atlanta will seem a bit empty. Dealing with Arkansas and Alabama from the West won’t make it easy, but with Georgia and South Carolina coming to Knoxville, the Vols have their shot to make a massive jump.

I know that this is just another preseason poll but it is good to see our Vols getting some early love.

this is getting old. so now i'm supposed to beleive that 8-4 or 9-3 w/out a trip to ATL is not a successful season?

gimmie a break.

 

[jakez4ut]

also RB not a strength? i guess it's only b/c of depth? gonna be hard to believe that AK and JH won't be successful.

 

[OrangeDog]

Scout.com: 2015 CFN Preseason Rankings - No. 11 to 20

15. Tennessee
2014 CFN Season Ranking: 49 2015 Prediction: 7-5
3 Best Players: 1) DE Derek Barnett, Soph. 2) QB Joshua Dobbs, Jr. 3) LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Jr.
Relative Strengths: 1) Receiver, 2) Linebacker, 3) Quarterback
Not Quite As Strong ... 1) Offensive Line, 2) Defensive Line, 3) Running Back
.

I would BET that they are mistaken about this........depending on OL play.

 

[thevolwalker]

also RB not a strength? i guess it's only b/c of depth? gonna be hard to believe that AK and JH won't be successful.

Kamara has to prove he can produce first before calling the unit a strength.

 

[CA_Vol]

also RB not a strength? i guess it's only b/c of depth? gonna be hard to believe that AK and JH won't be successful.

This is what jumped out to me. We have possibly the best RB duo in the SEC

 

[jakez4ut]

Kamara has to prove he can produce first before calling the unit a strength.

ok, let's call it a hedged bet...:thumbsup:

 

[jakez4ut]

This is what jumped out to me. We have possibly the best RB duo in the SEC

possibly. that's where i might draw the line though, that would definitley have to be proven.

LSU, GA, ARK will have something to say about that, as all have "dynamic" duos at RB. but if we're 4th on that list, that doesn't suck.

 

[Volsfaninva917]

Scout.com: 2015 CFN Preseason Rankings - No. 11 to 20

15. Tennessee
2014 CFN Season Ranking: 49 2015 Prediction: 7-5
3 Best Players: 1) DE Derek Barnett, Soph. 2) QB Joshua Dobbs, Jr. 3) LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Jr.
Relative Strengths: 1) Receiver, 2) Linebacker, 3) Quarterback
Not Quite As Strong ... 1) Offensive Line, 2) Defensive Line, 3) Running Back
The season will be a success if … Tennessee wins the SEC East. Yeah, it’s a big leap for a team that came up with just seven wins last season, but with the returning experience and talent, anything other than a trip to Atlanta will seem a bit empty. Dealing with Arkansas and Alabama from the West won’t make it easy, but with Georgia and South Carolina coming to Knoxville, the Vols have their shot to make a massive jump.

I know that this is just another preseason poll but it is good to see our Vols getting some early love.

Inexperienced yes, but not a weakness by any means IMO

 

[jakez4ut]

you know as we get ready for this season and you listen to all the hype, i have to wonder....and this has been going on for a long time, it's not new....but why does a season have to be considered unsuccessful if they don't win some sort of championship?

you know, the "if you're not first, you're last" sentiment? as we've pretty much sucked for the past 7 or 8 years, i gotta tell you, i have different levels of success now........

this year, making it to ATL is not the sole indicator of "success".

 

[Catbone]

also RB not a strength? i guess it's only b/c of depth? gonna be hard to believe that AK and JH won't be successful.

Depth. If one goes down we are in trouble. Similar to OT

 

[jakez4ut]

Depth. If one goes down we are in trouble. Similar to OT

that's all it could be. but you could say the same about QB too...nothing but true freshmen behind dobbs. and they have that as a strength.

at least we have 2 RB's. we lose dobbs and things go in the tank even quicker.

 

[mdrew27]

Scout.com: 2015 CFN Preseason Rankings - No. 11 to 20

15. Tennessee
2014 CFN Season Ranking: 49 2015 Prediction: 7-5
3 Best Players: 1) DE Derek Barnett, Soph. 2) QB Joshua Dobbs, Jr. 3) LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Jr.
Relative Strengths: 1) Receiver, 2) Linebacker, 3) Quarterback
Not Quite As Strong ... 1) Offensive Line, 2) Defensive Line, 3) Running Back
The season will be a success if … Tennessee wins the SEC East. Yeah, it’s a big leap for a team that came up with just seven wins last season, but with the returning experience and talent, anything other than a trip to Atlanta will seem a bit empty. Dealing with Arkansas and Alabama from the West won’t make it easy, but with Georgia and South Carolina coming to Knoxville, the Vols have their shot to make a massive jump.

I know that this is just another preseason poll but it is good to see our Vols getting some early love.

Wait... Theyre giving us a preseason rank of 15th but predicting we finish 7-5???

 

[ClearwaterVol]

Wait... Theyre giving us a preseason rank of 15th but predicting we finish 7-5???

They have UGA picked at 16 with a 9-3 record.

 

[jakez4ut]

i do find it ironic that a lot of us, self included, have *****ed about all the hype. and this poll comes out, predicts 7-5, and we, self included, ***** about that too.

nothing makes us happy.

 

[R1CH]

Wait... Theyre giving us a preseason rank of 15th but predicting we finish 7-5???

Was thinking the same thing. It seems like they are just going with the flow of Tennessee hype coming from other media outlets, but don't have much confidence in how we finish out the season.

 

[joevol33]

also RB not a strength? i guess it's only b/c of depth? gonna be hard to believe that AK and JH won't be successful.

My thoughts as well.

 

[VolBricks]

This is just crazy. We are not the 15th best team in the country right now. Maybe at the end of the season, but not yet. We are still relying on first year freshmen to provide quality depth at too many positions.

Call me a Nega-Vol if you must, but I just do not see us being that good yet.

 

[jakez4ut]

This is just crazy. We are not the 15th best team in the country right now. Maybe at the end of the season, but not yet. We are still relying on first year freshmen to provide quality depth at too many positions.

Call me a Nega-Vol if you must, but I just do not see us being that good yet.

it'll be hard to convince me of that right now as well.

20+ pre season is probably about right given the fact that we haven't played a game yet. plenty of opportunities to move up between OU, ARK and UF on the schedule in Sept.

 

[Yater]

These are some really terrible rankings.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

This whole thing is just...off.

1. 7-5 prediction for 2015, but ranked 15th...
2. Weakness DLine (with perhaps the best DE tandem in the country)...
3. Weakness RB (with a very strong RB duo)...
4. Success only if we win the East (too high)...

Agreed with all who said it before. Whoever wrote this just mailed it in...no real thought whatsoever. Consequently, some serious misfires.

Not worth the electrons used to put it on the web.

 

[08Vol]

i do find it ironic that a lot of us, self included, have *****ed about all the hype. and this poll comes out, predicts 7-5, and we, self included, ***** about that too.

nothing makes us happy.

The hype the bothers me is the 11-1 or 10-2 talk. Saying 7-5 is really under selling this team. A group of really young players and first year starters were essentially 2 plays away from going 8-4 last year. If a year of experience, returning 18 starters, returning the most starts in the SEC, upgrading the OC position, another top 5 recruiting class, and an improvement at the QB position don't result in more than 1 more regular season win, then we've got a serious problem.

 

[jakez4ut]

The hype the bothers me is the 11-1 or 10-2 talk. Saying 7-5 is really under selling this team. A group of really young players and first year starters were essentially 2 plays away from going 8-4 last year. If a year of experience, returning 18 starters, returning the most starts in the SEC, upgrading the OC position, another top 5 recruiting class, and an improvement at the QB position don't result in more than 1 more regular season win, then we've got a serious problem.

agreed. and i think the serious problem we just absolutely must avoid is key, game missing, injuries.

for all those trumpeting the experience and now "talented" depth we supposedly have, if we start getting banged up in certain areas, all that lack of depth talk will start to make a lot of sense.

that said, i think our 1st 22 can and will play with just about anyone on the schedule. and assuming we avoid the injury bug, i too expect 8 or 9 wins this year.

 

[ZippyMorocco]

They have UGA picked at 16 with a 9-3 record.

And the O line is a weakness. Most people think UGA has the best O line in the SEC.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

Scout.com: 2015 CFN Preseason Rankings - No. 11 to 20

15. Tennessee
2014 CFN Season Ranking: 49 2015 Prediction: 7-5
3 Best Players: 1) DE Derek Barnett, Soph. 2) QB Joshua Dobbs, Jr. 3) LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Jr.
Relative Strengths: 1) Receiver, 2) Linebacker, 3) Quarterback
Not Quite As Strong ... 1) Offensive Line, 2) Defensive Line, 3) Running Back
The season will be a success if … Tennessee wins the SEC East. Yeah, it’s a big leap for a team that came up with just seven wins last season, but with the returning experience and talent, anything other than a trip to Atlanta will seem a bit empty. Dealing with Arkansas and Alabama from the West won’t make it easy, but with Georgia and South Carolina coming to Knoxville, the Vols have their shot to make a massive jump.

I know that this is just another preseason poll but it is good to see our Vols getting some early love.

I have never been a fan of Scout. They are my least favorite recruiting service and least favorite place to get CFB news. Even though they have tended to rank our commits/prospects higher than other recruiting services, they still have horribly written articles.

This just seems to be thrown together with no true introspection into our season or thought process to what our team is like. Listing RB's as a weakness, even with AK being unproven, is just asinine.A better weakness would be Special Teams since we were pretty horrible with them last year.

Also, you think we are the #15 team in the nation but we finish with a 7-5 record on the year? Also, their measure of success is misguided. This is a team that has been down and out for almost a decade honestly. If your measure of success in our first season back in contention is an SEC East championship or bust, then that is ridiculous. 9-3 with a solid bowl win to make it 10-3, but no SEC East title would still be a HUGE success.