If we win out...and win our bowl game...what would our projected rank be?

#28
#28
I really only pay attention to the top 10.

And Tennessee.

This is college football, its an interest/hobby I do because I enjoy it. We've sucked for soooooo long and these last 2 years especially have been brutal. It was worse than I've ever remembered as a fan, but the last several weeks have been electric. It sucks that it got so bad that I'm as excited about a 3-5 team as I am right now, but this is part of it.

Life is full of choices.....blah blah blah, never mind. I know if I wasn't concerned about our ranking right now, I wouldn't be in this thread telling everyone how unimportant it is to me. Lol.
 
#29
#29
It would matter in recruiting. Something to sell and point to the improvement of the team and player development.

Does it help land one recruit who was possibly on the fence?
 
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#30
#30
Huh? Wins are important. What some group of random assistant coaches or beat writers think about our wins is not important to me unless we were too 10 with a chance at a playoff run. Sorry that gets your jimmies rustled
LOL
Just sayin...
Beat writers ranking Tenn 25th...
Is a lot closer to the playoff committee ranking us top 10...
Than going 4-8.
Just sayin mate.
So saying "does it really.matter" is an absurd question.
 
#31
#31
I think that it would matter only in showing the team that hard work has it's merits and that it is being noticed.

It would also show recruits that we are on the right path and the future is only going to be brighter and they need to be part of building something back to it's historic level and have a chance to become better players and win it all while doing it.
 
#32
#32
I think it largely matters how we win if we win and then who we would beat in the bowl game. CFN has us projected to play Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl right now. Let’s say that does occur and we win, I think there is a legit chance we crack the top 25 if we win that game given who they’ve beaten and the momentum we would have. Obviously, we have 4 games left and they have 5, potentially 6 so we’ll see what happens.
 
#33
#33
Worrying about being ranked is useless at this point. Cart before the horse kind of thing. If we win out, the most important part will be how that happens. Squeaking out victories or drilling opponents will determine the perception recruits have in their collective heads. I doubt the ranked, or not ranked, consideration is very important to most of them!

GO VOLS!!!
 
#34
#34
I really only pay attention to teams ranked in the top 10 to be honest. Would it really matter if we’re 25th?

That is one of the silliest comments I have ever seen you post. From 2008 till now, UT has only been ranked in the FINAL AP top 25 twice, in 2015 and 2016 under Butch with 9-4 records. Before that, we were pretty much in the final 25 every year.

For Pruitt to get us to a final ranking in his 2nd year after the complete disaster that we had become in 2017, would simply be amazing. The boost to recruiting in Feb would be amazing as we lock up those last needed slots. The narrative for TN is that we would finally be on our way back. Yes we have heard that before, but the hype was always pre-season not post-season, when it really counts. Pruitt is no doubt in the discussion at least for coach of the year.

I will also say that it is not too unusual for an 8-5 team to make a final rank. It happens about once every other year, so it is possible but we would have to really curb stomp the teams going forward to make a good case.
 
#35
#35
I bet to some of these seniors it would matter. After a winless SEC season a couple years ago I would think leaving knowing you hopefully helped right the ship would be nice. That being said I don't think many people care about anything outside the playoff. As a TN fan I still kinda do. At least it's something.
 
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#36
#36
The likelihood we win out is very slim.

However, even if we do, I don't see how we'd be in the top 25 with 5 losses.
The last two years, a 5-loss team ended in the AP top 25 (Stanford in 2017/8 and Northwestern in 2018/9). Both years also had a 4-loss team in the top 10. Not sure we win out, but getting into the top 25 is possible. However, the loss to GA St would probably be enough to keep anyone from voting for us.
 
#37
#37
We may not be ranked if we win out or we might. Of our final 4 games Vandy is 87 in fpi and UAB is 101 so those games will not impress by themselves. The other 2 games are Mizzou 26 currently (may change after games against UF and UGA) and Kentucky fpi 40. We are currently 36 so only 1 of our remaining games is against a team higher than us and they aren't higher by much.
If we finish the regular season 7-5 and get a bowl against a higher ranked team possibly a team ranked in the top 25 and win convincingly then it becomes possible/probable to end the year ranked at 8-5.
Starting 1-4 (first 5 games) and finishing with a 7-1 (last 8 games) record would put the Vols up in discussions for the top 25 for next season. I would bet in fact they would be preseason ranked especially with that week 2 trip to Norman.
 
#38
#38
That is one of the silliest comments I have ever seen you post. From 2008 till now, UT has only been ranked in the FINAL AP top 25 twice, in 2015 and 2016 under Butch with 9-4 records. Before that, we were pretty much in the final 25 every year.

For Pruitt to get us to a final ranking in his 2nd year after the complete disaster that we had become in 2017, would simply be amazing. The boost to recruiting in Feb would be amazing as we lock up those last needed slots. The narrative for TN is that we would finally be on our way back. Yes we have heard that before, but the hype was always pre-season not post-season, when it really counts. Pruitt is no doubt in the discussion at least for coach of the year.

I will also say that it is not too unusual for an 8-5 team to make a final rank. It happens about once every other year, so it is possible but we would have to really curb stomp the teams going forward to make a good case.

Why would I give a lot of credibility to a system that had Texas at 15 with 2 losses? It’s biased and corrupt just like the atheism an. You’re focusing on the byproduct of wins as confirmation of Pruitt’s success. I just don’t get caught up in it. The wins, not the byproduct, are what’s important.
 
#40
#40
Why would I give a lot of credibility to a system that had Texas at 15 with 2 losses? It’s biased and corrupt just like the atheism an. You’re focusing on the byproduct of wins as confirmation of Pruitt’s success. I just don’t get caught up in it. The wins, not the byproduct, are what’s important.

I am not having a debate on the purity of the ranking systems. I do say it matters to recruits and our players - and that translates into wins. You could make the same argument above that SEC or even NC championships dont matter, its just a byproduct of wins but you would be wrong. And a top 25 ranking would not be confirmation of Pruitt's success at turning us around IMO (its still too early for that) but it would be a good trend in the right direction. The national media discussion would be very different - again that helps recruiting and that directly impacts the bottom line potential for winning.
 
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#42
#42
I was just looking at the CBS complete rankings with wonder and hope...where do you guys see us?? If you really feel like indulging....what do you think our rankings will be after each of our wins along the way?

I'm not looking past Saturday and hope the team isn't either.
 
#47
#47
Around 30th IMHO. A team that loses the two games UT lost early on does not deserve to be in the top 25 no matter what they do afterward.
 
#48
#48
Okay, so our chance of being ranked at any point this season (including post-bowl) is pretty much zero.

Here's why:
  1. Teams with five losses generally don't make the polls. Looking back over the years, each final AP poll includes either one single -5 loss team...or none at all. In the past decade, there has never been a final AP poll that included two -5 loss teams.
  2. Most of those rare -5 loss teams who did make it into the final poll first played in their conference championship match. Which means, they got 14 total games (12 regular season, 1 title game, 1 bowl game). And 9-5 with a championship game appearance looks a lot more respectable to the poll voters than 8-5.
  3. The only two teams to make it into the final AP poll of the last ten years with an 8-5 record were Auburn in '16, and Michigan in '12. But both those teams were ranked in the top 10 earlier in the season, so already had the attention of the poll voters as "one of the teams to watch."
The Vols will have none of those advantages. If we win out in the regular season, we'll go into the bowls with a 7-5 record, just one game over even. We won't get the benefit of a championship contest to get attention. And with a 7-5 record, we'll likely play a bowl against some other team that is also 7-5 (or maybe 8-4), which means they also will not be ranked. So no huge kudos for beating them.

No, the polls are not our friends this year. Have to save that for 2020 and beyond.

Nevertheless...Go Vols!
 
#49
#49
I really only pay attention to teams ranked in the top 10 to be honest. Would it really matter if we’re 25th?
I have to admit I miss seeing us in the top 25 all the time like we was in the 90's & 2000's I really miss top 10 and top 5 . I hope I get to see us in the top 4 and make the playoffs before I leave this world.
 
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