I still don't understand the initial top 25

[volfan2024]

It seems they just put us at #24 putting the screws to us early on. Yeah?

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

We lost a lot from the team last year. It’s as simple as that.

We can complain about that at year’s end if we go 9-3 or better.

 

[Tman44]

The AP poll is an average of where the voters put different teams. This is the chart of individual votes from pre-week 1. There is inherent bias amongst the voters. Some voters had us as high as eight. Some voters totally omitted us from their ballot. Brett McMurphy has ALWAYS shown anti-Tennessee bias in his ballots. He had us ranked at 19. The AP is simply a popularity contest run by media members,


Click on a T and all of them will become highlighted. It makes it easier to see how people ranked Tennessee.

Football Grid View :: College Poll Tracker :: Breaking down college polls every week of the season.

collegepolltracker.com

 

[Unconditional Surrender]

If you are SEC, you rise fast when you win. Beat Georgia and we are in the top 5.

 

[Vol737]

Rankings. Do. Not. Matter. Just win and rankings take care of themselves. Always has, always will. Walk softly and carry a mammoth freaking bat to swat people out of your way.

 

[bpalmer28]

It seems they just put us at #24 putting the screws to us early on. Yeah?

There’s no other way to spin it. People will say it’s because they perceived Nico as our MVP, but anyone who knows ball knows that he was actually our weakest link.

 

[Doberman]

No one knew what to make of us. Including us.

It’s not a big deal. Lots of questions were answered Saturday. I think the respect will come if we show more of the same going forward.

 

[OrangeInKy]

We lost a lot from the team last year. It’s as simple as that.

We can complain about that at year’s end if we go 9-3 or better.

You mean top 25 voters and TV networks didnt all hop on a conference call and discuss how to sabotage Tennessee?

 

[CAVPUT]

We lost a lot from the team last year. It’s as simple as that.

We can complain about that at year’s end if we go 9-3 or better.

Yep. Lost a ton of talented players. No one knows what the replacements can do especially at QB and WR. Not sure what folks are expecting under the circumstances. And as others point out, what does it matter at the start of a season? UT will earn the ranking it deserves based on the results of the season. All this paranoia is unwarranted and much ado about nothing.

 

[DarkMode]

We also know that even if Alabama was 0 and 9 the AP would still have them ranked in the top 10. They just lost to an unranked team that was 2 and 10 last year. Pitifully, I'd be shocked if they dropped more than one rank...

 

[thistime]

It isn't meant to be understood, only talked about. That's how sports talk people keep their jobs.

 

[HeuperDrive]

Preseason rankings are always awful lol. They’re not some huge conspiracy. They’re just done for clicks. Almost every damn team has a reason to doubt where they’re ranked in the preseason polls. And even then, denying that this team had some question marks going into this season is just being a revisionist.

If we beat Georgia in a couple of weeks, the rankings will adjust accordingly.

 

[Kosmalski]

It seems they just put us at #24 putting the screws to us early on. Yeah?

Sports writers and others are lazy. They give a gloss over review. Even one of the inside basketball guys forUT gave a horrible report. His review missed key players when that was supposed tobe his focus. National guys have no chance especially if they dont take time to do the work.
We are about 13 right now

 

[PEPPERJAX]

We also know that even if Alabama was 0 and 9 the AP would still have them ranked in the top 10. They just lost to an unranked team that was 2 and 10 last year. Pitifully, I'd be shocked if they dropped more than one rank...

AP voters still view Alabama with Saban leading the program and that is the problem. I know they have a roster full of talented players but even the casual CFB fan could see a significant drop off in bama’s level of play last season. They lost to Vandy, a bad Oklahoma team, and an average at best Michigan squad. The UGA win carried them in high regard with the media even though bama got worse down the stretch.
Bama may end up getting to 9-3 if they figure a lot of things out, but I’m skeptical of that happening. You could argue that FSU was the sixth toughest game on this years schedule for the tide.

 

[zeppelin128]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I thought a 20-25 preseason ranking was quite fair to us, given the lost personnel and razor thin WR room.

Just win baby, it will take care of itself.

 

[EZE]

If you are SEC, you rise fast when you win. Beat Georgia and we are in the top 5.

Exactly. If any SEC team finishes 10-2 it will be in the playoff even if it was initially unranked and receiving zero votes. Even 9-3 will have a chance some years.

 

[olemtnboy]

The AP poll is an average of where the voters put different teams. This is the chart of individual votes from pre-week 1. There is inherent bias amongst the voters. Some voters had us as high as eight. Some voters totally omitted us from their ballot. Brett McMurphy has ALWAYS shown anti-Tennessee bias in his ballots. He had us ranked at 19. The AP is simply a popularity contest run by media members,


Click on a T and all of them will become highlighted. It makes it easier to see how people ranked Tennessee.

Football Grid View :: College Poll Tracker :: Breaking down college polls every week of the season.

collegepolltracker.com

This percent spot on truth....it's popularity contest some voters wld vote the team high b/c they like the coach or the team has history being good.....just win rankings take care themselves.....
Go Vols .....

 

[VolunteerVandiver]

Just win. Everything else will take care of itself

 

[VolBricks]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I thought a 20-25 preseason ranking was quite fair to us, given the lost personnel and razor thin WR room.

Just win baby, it will take care of itself.

agree, I had us at 22 myself because no one knew what JA was going to be like in this offense. I think we move to around 18 with a win vs ETSU.

 

[volfan2024]

I don’t see where South Carolina or LSU were ranked so much higher I guess Nico effect.

 

[GVF]

We also know that even if Alabama was 0 and 9 the AP would still have them ranked in the top 10. They just lost to an unranked team that was 2 and 10 last year. Pitifully, I'd be shocked if they dropped more than one rank...

2024 FSU was coming off a huge 2023. Snake bit would have been an improvement. Not sure how they pulled off a 2 win season.

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

They had UCLA at 8! I think WE should move to 8!

 

[Volfan76]

It seems they just put us at #24 putting the screws to us early on. Yeah?

You aren't going to understand it because there is no deep thought put into this. If you want a job with little to no accountability, become a weather or a sports forecaster. Don't believe me...here are a few of the fall predictions of the industry "respected" Paul Finebaum:
Texas will blow out Ohio State
Arch Manning is the best player since Tim Tebow
Alabama is a national title contender and their #8 ranking is far too low

Skip Bayless tweets after UNC opening drive:
Belichick has "national championship" cailber offense
TCU is about to get blown out. Too much MJ and LT. Frogs about to get blown out

These guys operate on emotion and bias. They are not analytical and they are certainly not scientists and many are just outright haters. Most have little research of their own and piggyback on the work of the others or just follow the collective consensus and have very short term memories. They ignored that UT was in the playoffs and when they saw a 5 star qb left and assumed it was going to hurt the program. They didn't watch enough football to realize he didn't carry us to the playoffs, he was carried.

 

[UTFranklinVol]

if we beat Georgia at home week 3 we will be a top 10 team and the preseason poll won't mean a damn thing

if we lose to Georgia badly we drop out of the top 25 all together.

the poll giveth and the poll taketh away.

 

[OrangeTsar]

Yep. Lost a ton of talented players. No one knows what the replacements can do especially at QB and WR. Not sure what folks are expecting under the circumstances. And as others point out, what does it matter at the start of a season? UT will earn the ranking it deserves based on the results of the season. All this paranoia is unwarranted and much ado about nothing.

Voters pay too much attention to the skill positions. But the trenches are still what decides games. Voters didn’t factor in our excellence on both lines into their calculations.