AP Preseason Poll: Good Guys #24

[marcusluvsvols]

Live updates: AP Top 25 college football preseason rankings drop, with Texas on top

The AP Top 25 college football preseason poll drops, ranking the Texas Longhorns No. 1 for the first time in the opening, edging out Penn State. Follow live updates.

apnews.com

Love this.

Hope it really pisses the team off. It better. I am sure this and the coaches poll at #19 are bulletin board material. We play better as underdogs...and CJH and team need a chip on their shoulders this year.

Its cut and dried IMO...10-2 makes the playoffs. Anything less probably not. Fwiw I think we go 9-3 probably and finish ranked between 10th and 15th. We may slip to 8-4. Oh well. No big deal in a reloading year.

Playoff runs coming in 2026,27, and 28. We hopefully win a Title in there with Faizon at QB too. GO VOLS

 

[ENGRVOL]

Good, glad the voters are trashing our team and not looking at our schedule. Heupel can use it as motivation.

 

[volgr]

6 or 7 wins wouldn't surprise you? LMAO.........

Where will the offensive production come from? How does the repurposed OL come together? A lot of big offensive question marks that some of you just think will be magically answered.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

Love the disrespect. Its alot better to be overlooked than everyone having you as a target. I expect we'll be in the top 5 after Week 3 when we beat Georgia.

 

[KittenVol]

Nice to see all the D4H clones with their pitchforks out . Just win.

 

[Big Orange Captain]

24 seems about right to me. I think this season has a better chance of being rougher than expected vs better. Our offense could be one of Heupel's worst. Defense should be solid but they will be leaned on heavily. 6 or 7 wins wouldn't surprise me.

Barring a major rash of injuries then 6 or 7 wins would be a huge disappointment and a bad season. That means we lose to the big 3 then lose to an Arkansas or Oklahoma or god forbid Kentucky , Vandy or Miss. St. I’m going with 9-3 myself. 8-4 at worse.

 

[marcusluvsvols]

Where will the offensive production come from? How does the repurposed OL come together? A lot of big offensive question marks that some of you just think will be magically answered.

The Oline should be better than last year. Both in starting 5 on the field, and in depth inside and out. Better in every conceivable way. We brought in 2 good starters inside in Moe and Pendleton and should be better at both OTackle spots with a healthy and 30lbs lighter Heard and 5* Sanders. Been a while since we had 5star guys at both Tackle spots. I honestly think at this point that Pendleton starts at Center over Satterwhite just because Perry is SO big now and SO good that he needs to start at the other Guard spot.

So it will be

Heard
Moe
Pendleton
Perry
Sanders

Instead of

Heard
Moe
Satterwhite
Pendleton
Sanders

Satterwhite may have more experience as a Center in our system, but when it comes to putting our best 5 out there...Perry needs to be on the field. Still have Sham Umarov as backup Guard, Satterwhite backup Center, and Warren/little Heard as backup Tackles. If all goes well, Heard jumps to NFL after this season but we have 2 Olinemen in the 26 class that are 5stars on at least 1 service plus a solid Oline room returning 4 starters next year.

 

[sonofUT62]

Love being overlooked. ASU, Illinois, SMU, IU, really?

3 of those were playoff teams. 2 of them have QBs we probably pursued before landing Joey. 24 seems low but maybe use other examples.

 

[sonofUT62]

You would be a rich man shorting USC. Outside of Sellers, the roster is pretty shaky.

And the top 5 pick DE.

 

[cherokeeeVOL]

If I was not a UT fan or reporter who follows the program closely, that's probably about where I would have them ranked as well. In reality I think we're probably in the mid-teens.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

24 seems about right to me. I think this season has a better chance of being rougher than expected vs better. Our offense could be one of Heupel's worst. Defense should be solid but they will be leaned on heavily. 6 or 7 wins wouldn't surprise me.

Who do we lose to though? This is a minimum 8 win schedule

 

[I4Vols]

Right now, I just want to see this team beat Syracuse by 10+, work some of the questions out and avoid a serious injury.

 

[deezvols]

Dropping 15 spots during the offseason is wild work. Nico didn’t make us 15 spots better.

Losing people like Pierce and Sampson hurt a lot worse than mid-Nico.

 

[Bigorangefan 98]

Love being overlooked. ASU, Illinois, SMU, IU, really?

Let’s jump out of the gate early and prove them wrong…. We need handle Syracuse pretty good. Be nice if we can throttle them and show the media that number 24 is BS….

 

[maxorange]

Good, glad the voters are trashing our team and not looking at our schedule. Heupel can use it as motivation.

So polling (and a team's value) should factor in scheduling???

 

[VOLin315]

Let’s jump out of the gate early and prove them wrong…. We need handle Syracuse pretty good. Be nice if we can throttle them and show the media that number 24 is BS….

We will blow them out, I will be in Atlanta for it.

 

[orangemadam]

Considering at this point we don't have a qb or any receivers
other than true frosh, we should wait and see. Maybe they're on to something.

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

Dropping 15 spots during the offseason is wild work. Nico didn’t make us 15 spots better.

Nico is far from all we lost. We had the worst portal haul in Power Conference football and then lost the SEC POY at running back, 3 of our top 4 receivers, 4 O linemen, 5 D linemen with 3 starters, our best LB, our best safety. Our best returning players on both sides of the ball had significant injuries in the offseason, and two of our returning starters have had personal/legal issues crop up at the end of the offseason.

If it were any other team, no one here would be wondering how that team could possibly slide back in preseason polls.

 

[volgr]

The Oline should be better than last year. Both in starting 5 on the field, and in depth inside and out. Better in every conceivable way. We brought in 2 good starters inside in Moe and Pendleton and should be better at both OTackle spots with a healthy and 30lbs lighter Heard and 5* Sanders. Been a while since we had 5star guys at both Tackle spots. I honestly think at this point that Pendleton starts at Center over Satterwhite just because Perry is SO big now and SO good that he needs to start at the other Guard spot.

So it will be

Heard
Moe
Pendleton
Perry
Sanders

Instead of

Heard
Moe
Satterwhite
Pendleton
Sanders

Satterwhite may have more experience as a Center in our system, but when it comes to putting our best 5 out there...Perry needs to be on the field. Still have Sham Umarov as backup Guard, Satterwhite backup Center, and Warren/little Heard as backup Tackles. If all goes well, Heard jumps to NFL after this season but we have 2 Olinemen in the 26 class that are 5stars on at least 1 service plus a solid Oline room returning 4 starters next year.

Sanders is obviously a terrific prospect, but expecting a freshman OL to make a significant contribution in the SEC isn't something I would put on the kid.

 

[volgr]

Who do we lose to though? This is a minimum 8 win schedule

The big 4 (Ga, Bama, Fl, OK) and then Heupel's usual road screw up.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Nico is far from all we lost. We had the worst portal haul in Power Conference football and then lost the SEC POY at running back, 3 of our top 4 receivers, 4 O linemen, 5 D linemen with 3 starters, our best LB, our best safety. Our best returning players on both sides of the ball had significant injuries in the offseason, and two of our returning starters have had personal/legal issues crop up at the end of the offseason.

If it were any other team, no one here would be wondering how that team could possibly slide back in preseason polls.

Those personnel losses are presumably addressed in the ESPN FPI index, where the Vols rank tenth. Part of the issue is many writers are moving away from analytic models that were considered generally unbiased. Now, that there has been a realignment of broadcast contracts that perception has changed.

 

[volbound1700]

They had us at #15 last year in pre season and finished us at #8.

Those saying Illinois is misplaced may forget they too went 10-3 last year though in the B1G.

Agree on Illinois but being behind Oklahoma, Iowa State, Florida, Texas Tech, etc. seems ridiculous. Oklahoma is probably the most egregious one. A lot of people have them winning in Knoxville some reason, I don't get it.

 

[volbound1700]

The big 4 (Ga, Bama, Fl, OK) and then Heupel's usual road screw up.

You really think we will lose to Oklahoma in Knoxville? The same Oklahoma team who went 6-7 and lost to Navy? The same Oklahoma team we just hired staff members away from (i.e. we should know them very well). They are going to win in Knoxville? Something that only Georgia has been able to do the last 3 years.

 

[jasonvol18]

Bulletin Board materials. Our goals dont change, but the disrespect rom the media will change.

Why does anyone care what the rankings are in August. Last year, FSU started #10, Ala #5, Mich #9 and we all know the ending to that story. SMU wasn't even ranked and we started #15..And both made the CFP. Rankings mean nothing until late October. Rankings right now are for fans, that's it.

 

[volgr]

You really think we will lose to Oklahoma in Knoxville? The same Oklahoma team who went 6-7 and lost to Navy? The same Oklahoma team we just hired staff members away from (i.e. we should know them very well). They are going to win in Knoxville? Something that only Georgia has been able to do the last 3 years.

I think it is very possible. Not only does our offense have issues, but we are also very thin depth wise. Come November, depending on injuries, the last few big games (OK, FL) could be rough.