VFL-82-JP
Bleedin' Orange...
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2015
- Messages
- 19,651
- Likes
- 52,082
No, the polls aren't out. That won't happen for another 8 hours or so.
But we joined the elite as the game ended yesterday evening. Not because it was Florida. Because of our lads, and who they are becoming as a team.
The way I see it, there are three teams playing at a level beyond everyone else: UGa, Bama, and Ohio State. And then there's a second tier of very good teams, a field of "peer competitors."
Aside from #1, #2 and #3, everyone in the Top 25 is now a peer for us. We're capable of walking onto a football field and beating any one of them, on any given Saturday.
Michigan? Yep. USCw? Uh-huh. Clemson? Them, too. Oklahoma? Hell, yes.
Been a lot of years since I felt that sure of our lads and coaches.
Certainly, we have areas that need improvement. Big huge ones. Like our passing defense. Like our run game (not counting our QB, who could find a clear running lane through a rose bush).
But news flash: every team has wrinkles. Even the very best have "a lot of things that need fixing." That's just football. It's how football works.
Oklahoma and Arkansas lost; USCw and Kentucky had a tougher time than they should have against lesser competition.
So we will probably end up somewhere between #7 and #9 when the AP comes out later today.
But that's just the paperwork catching up with us. We're already among the elite.
Go Vols!
But we joined the elite as the game ended yesterday evening. Not because it was Florida. Because of our lads, and who they are becoming as a team.
The way I see it, there are three teams playing at a level beyond everyone else: UGa, Bama, and Ohio State. And then there's a second tier of very good teams, a field of "peer competitors."
Aside from #1, #2 and #3, everyone in the Top 25 is now a peer for us. We're capable of walking onto a football field and beating any one of them, on any given Saturday.
Michigan? Yep. USCw? Uh-huh. Clemson? Them, too. Oklahoma? Hell, yes.
Been a lot of years since I felt that sure of our lads and coaches.
Certainly, we have areas that need improvement. Big huge ones. Like our passing defense. Like our run game (not counting our QB, who could find a clear running lane through a rose bush).
But news flash: every team has wrinkles. Even the very best have "a lot of things that need fixing." That's just football. It's how football works.
Oklahoma and Arkansas lost; USCw and Kentucky had a tougher time than they should have against lesser competition.
So we will probably end up somewhere between #7 and #9 when the AP comes out later today.
But that's just the paperwork catching up with us. We're already among the elite.
Go Vols!
