Mark Schlabach Of ESPN Has Tennessee Ranked #25 In His 2020 Preseason Top 25

#26
#26
BigOrangeFanatic said:
A&M at 11th is hilarious.
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While I want to agree just look at their 2020 schedule. They trade off an OOC game against Clemson for a game against Colorado and their SEC East teams are S. Carolina and Vandy.

Abilene Christian, N.Texas and Fresno St. round out their OOC schedule.

3 Toughest games are:
@ Bama
LSU
@ Auburn

They played most good teams tough in 2019 and with this schedule 9-3 is the floor. Just go 1-2 in their big 3 games and finish 10-2 and #11 sounds about right actually.

They play 3 of the top 12 in this poll. Of those they play 2 of them in their last 2 games so they will most likely be highly ranked going into the home stretch of the 2020 season.

Combine a much easier schedule with a returning QB and their recruiting and I see no problem with them 11-16 preseason.

It just is what it is.
 
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#27
#27
TGVol said:
Makes sense if they have Georgia at #6 and we just took their best player. Arguably we should be even higher already but either way - the decade of Vols is officially under way no matter what they all think :p.
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Mays was Georgia’s best player? I think you forgot the blue font.
 
#29
#29
I think starting at 25 is about right. I can realistically see 9 wins in 2020 and a top 15 finish. I don't think we beat OU or bama, but I do think we beat uf and possibly uga depending on how healthy we are when the uga game rolls around in November.
 
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#30
#30
TGVol said:
Makes sense if they have Georgia at #6 and we just took their best player. Arguably we should be even higher already but either way - the decade of Vols is officially under way no matter what they all think :p.
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Yeah, 6th with an OL worst than ours was this year. I'll wait......
 
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#31
#31
Chattdawg said:
George Pickens may have something to say about that best player line...or Zeus. Just saying. Be excited you got him, but be realistic.
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Georgia OL has been the strength of ther team over last several years - no doubt about that. I think they actually made skill players look a lot better than they would behind more average line. Mays is unique where he could (and did) plug any hole in that line which is why I think he was the most important piece of the puzzle (which is why it was devastating when UT did not manage to keep him in Knoxville few years back). By the way, one thing I have noticed is that no matter where Chaney goes great OL materializes few years later (we saw that at UT under Dooley as well).
 
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#32
#32
Ty4Vols said:
While I want to agree just look at their 2020 schedule. They trade off an OOC game against Clemson for a game against Colorado and their SEC East teams are S. Carolina and Vandy. Abilene Christian, N.Texas and Fresno St. round out their OOC schedule.

....

Combine a much easier schedule with a returning QB and their recruiting and I see no problem with them 11-16 preseason.
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Yeah, A&M's 2020 schedule is the exact opposite of their 2019 schedule. 2019 schedule was probably one of the toughest in college football history (5 top 10 teams, including both LSU and Clemson). 2020 schedule is ridiculously easy.

It'll look like A&M improves a bunch in 2020 whether they do in reality or not. It's entirely possible they are 10-0 in November before having to face Alabama and LSU.
 
#34
#34
DiderotsGhost said:
Mostly a reasonable write-up except for this part:



Can't agree with this at all. In 2017 and '18, that was our biggest deficiency. At this point, we're returning virtually everyone from a good O-line that could become great in 2020 (particularly if Cade Mays is declared eligible). Meanwhile, our D-line saw major improvements in 2019 and we lose virtually no one from it. Indeed, we'll add a lot of depth to the DL this season (and we get Gooden back).

Biggest question marks in 2020 will be QB and the passing game. JG has been frustratingly inconsistent. And it's yet to be seen if Maurer, Bailey, or Shrout can overtake him. Meanwhile, we lose our 2 biggest playmakers in Jennings and Callaway.
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Yep. That’s just a clear case of a guy trying to know a lot about 100+ teams. He obviously recognizes that Tennessee is surging and takes a win streak into the new season. But he obviously isn’t well studied. Our lines our by far our greatest strengths. The greatest weakness we had/have is at qb. That’s completely obvious to anyone that watched us the year.
 
#35
#35
Tennesseefan2019 said:
Mark Schlabach of ESPN has Tennessee ranked #25 in his 2020 Preseason Top 25 :cool: Strangely he says C Brandon Kennedy is leaving:rolleyes:

Way-Too-Early Top 25: Where do LSU, Clemson land?

1) Clemson
2) Ohio State
3) Alabama
4) LSU
5) Oregon
6) Georgia
7) Florida
8) Oklahoma
9) Penn State
10) Notre Dame
11) Texas A&M
12) Auburn
13) Oklahoma State
14) Wisconsin
15) Michigan
16) Iowa State
17) Cincinnati
18) Boise State
19) Minnesota
20) Baylor
21) Memphis
22) North Carolina
23) Iowa
24) Texas
25) Tennessee
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Tennis way over ranked
 
#36
#36
DiderotsGhost said:
Mostly a reasonable write-up except for this part:



Can't agree with this at all. In 2017 and '18, that was our biggest deficiency. At this point, we're returning virtually everyone from a good O-line that could become great in 2020 (particularly if Cade Mays is declared eligible). Meanwhile, our D-line saw major improvements in 2019 and we lose virtually no one from it. Indeed, we'll add a lot of depth to the DL this season (and we get Gooden back).

Biggest question marks in 2020 will be QB and the passing game. JG has been frustratingly inconsistent. And it's yet to be seen if Maurer, Bailey, or Shrout can overtake him. Meanwhile, we lose our 2 biggest playmakers in Jennings and Callaway.
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We will be fine at wr....qb play is where our season lies. Do we take that huge step in year 3? Only if we get very good qb play or elite play. Look at tua ,burrow, lawrence , etc. We wanna play on that level have to have qb of that caliber
 
#37
#37
Ty4Vols said:
While I want to agree just look at their 2020 schedule. They trade off an OOC game against Clemson for a game against Colorado and their SEC East teams are S. Carolina and Vandy.

Abilene Christian, N.Texas and Fresno St. round out their OOC schedule.

3 Toughest games are:
@ Bama
LSU
@ Auburn

They played most good teams tough in 2019 and with this schedule 9-3 is the floor. Just go 1-2 in their big 3 games and finish 10-2 and #11 sounds about right actually.

They play 3 of the top 12 in this poll. Of those they play 2 of them in their last 2 games so they will most likely be highly ranked going into the home stretch of the 2020 season.

Combine a much easier schedule with a returning QB and their recruiting and I see no problem with them 11-16 preseason.

It just is what it is.
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They have been the same program so far under Jimbo as they were under Sumlin. I expect much of the same this year. They're an 8-4 type team. Certainly not knocking on the door of being a top 10 team.
 
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#41
#41
buckwild said:
Let's focus on beating Charlotte not rankings
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You do realize that random fans on a message board aren’t the ones who are actually playing in the games, right? It’s not Harrison Bailey and Eric Gray on this board posting about rankings.
 
#43
#43
ABINGDON VOL FAN said:
Best player-I like Mays but that is a big reach.
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Not a reach at all if you put on your beautiful orange glasses :p. Seems like too many on this board don't own them or otherwise we would all get along so much better. Having said that, not even orange glasses worked for me during Butch years :mad:
 
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#44
#44
landscapingvol said:
Preseason polls should be outlawed. They are useless and often times hurt a team's chance to make the playoffs based on nothing more than perception.
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Agreed. Also why some teams have a much better chance, such as notre dame and texas. First polls should come out week 3.
 
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