Simple minded CFP

[stolitonic]

You know years ago one of my kids high school awarded a valedictorian to a guy that had a 4.0 . The thing is though, he didn’t take anything. He chose the easy route, yet he was rewarded, just like the polls and the CFP people do. It’s so stupid. Makes you wonder how. We play real teams in the hardest football conference period, and are 25. We could beat 75% of the teams ranked ahead of us.

What is the old Parcelle saying,-you are what your record says you are.

Are we a bad team? Nope. Are we a playoff team? Nope.

We should have beat Georgia and the Sooners. We could be waltzing into the playoffs. We did not. That's on us. There is no evil wizard in Birmingham cheating us this time

We are ranked about where we should be (no point in arguing about a place or two at this point)-behind the other teams which still may make the playoffs..

 

[BreatheUT]

You know years ago one of my kids high school awarded a valedictorian to a guy that had a 4.0 . The thing is though, he didn’t take anything. He chose the easy route, yet he was rewarded, just like the polls and the CFP people do. It’s so stupid. Makes you wonder how. We play real teams in the hardest football conference period, and are 25. We could beat 75% of the teams ranked ahead of us.

You play the games in front of you. If we had 1 loss ok, maybe you have an argument. The body of work speaks for itself. We are not impressive. I'm sorta shocked there is a case attempting to be made after Saturday.

 

[Tnphil]

So like Iowa, who has lost to both ranked teams they have played and their only win against a team with a winning record was at home against Minnesota. Maybe Washington, who has lost by 17 and 18 points to their two ranked opponents and have only beaten 6-3 Illinois. Perhaps Pitt, who also has no ranked wins, lost to the only ranked team they have played and also lost to a 3-6 West Virginia team. Yes, we have one more loss but those teams are all ranked higher and have similar resumes to us.

And yet you must be laughing at them because you brought them up.....and they have better records than us, so that's why they are higher ranked. With our resume we have no business in the top 25, IMO.

 

[Rocky Top T]

You know years ago one of my kids high school awarded a valedictorian to a guy that had a 4.0 . The thing is though, he didn’t take anything. He chose the easy route, yet he was rewarded, just like the polls and the CFP people do. It’s so stupid. Makes you wonder how. We play real teams in the hardest football conference period, and are 25. We could beat 75% of the teams ranked ahead of us.

We could lose to 75 percent of the teams ranked ahead of us too! We could have easily lost to Miss St and Arkansas

 

[ftsandersvol]

We need an SEC championship roster. Or we won't ever win it. Playoff talk is just absurd.

Being in the thick of the SEC race in late November is the best way to insure a playoff spot. The odd man (team) out of the SECCG is always going to get one of the 12 playoff spots. Build a team capable of winning the SEC and the rest will take care of itself.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

The CFP rankings demonstrate why the B1G and SEC should break away and play only each other in an NFL-like Conference situation leading to playoffs. No cupcakes. 9 conference games and 3 games with the other conference every year then a playoff from the top 4 of each conference leading to a College Super Bowl.

High quality football every week, well unless Northwestern and Rutgers are playing but that's hardly worse than most years of Vandy and MS State, if we're honest. Yes, I know this year is an exception.

The TV money is already there for both conferences and if the also ran conferences want to find a contract to play the winner of our tournament, let them set it up and we'll see if it's worth it.

And F Notre Dame. Neither the B1G nor the SEC need your "independence" crap anymore. We tried to get you to join a conference for decades and you were too stubborn. Hate it for you.

 

[StuckInBamaVol]

That doesn't invalidate the OP. She was valedictorian for taking 4 years of home ec, but he wasn't even in the top 25 because he was taking physics and calculus.

We are garbage. It’s simple as that.

 

[BenGrimm]

Do you really think we could beat 18 of those teams. Have you watched any games this year???

Yeah I saw us lose to UGA because we missed a last second FG.

I saw us lose to OU on a blown offsides no-call.

I saw us out gain Bama in their stadium. But we made costly mistakes.

But ohhhh noes… Miss St and Ark played us for 4 Qs… just like they have every team they’ve played.

So yes, I think we are capable of beating anyone.

But we have 3 losses so no we didn’t earn our shot.

 

[a vol n tears]

There have been several eras of college in general but I’ll talk about the SEC since most arguments are saying the SEC is the toughest top to bottom.
Tenn’s historical winning % is around 67% and there have been many decades of highly winning teams, however up until the early 2000s football was not looked at as a money making option for schools. Just look at the highly rated coaches Fulmer competed against vs where the conference is now. How many opposing coaches in the SEC were considered great, during Neyland’s reign. Fulmer had Spurrier and that’s about it. Things changed about 2000. Better coaches started getting hired and Fulmer faded.
To my point, even during the high years of Fulmer Tenn was considered a good program, but was still not considered a top teir team. There are just a few of those just like basketball has the blue blood programs. Many on here complain about every loss, but Tenn is currently winning a little above there average. They are not a top teir such as Ala, Oh St, Mich, and even LSU. Even a&m is not a top teir. Money may buy wins or a NC, but it is only a short window. Even Fl only went through a short decade. I’m not sure why, but that is sports. Click the link to see Tenn is maybe 12th on average.

Tennessee Football Statistics and Records

Complete Tennessee college football database with statistics, records, and historical data.

www.winsipedia.com

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

You know years ago one of my kids high school awarded a valedictorian to a guy that had a 4.0 . The thing is though, he didn’t take anything. He chose the easy route, yet he was rewarded, just like the polls and the CFP people do. It’s so stupid. Makes you wonder how. We play real teams in the hardest football conference period, and are 25. We could beat 75% of the teams ranked ahead of us.

Tennessee is the not the valedictorian in this situation. Tennessee is the kid who failed every major test they took and barely passed all of the other work in each class, but they are getting moved along to the next grade anyway. Next year is our year, some say.

 

[West Vol]

You know years ago one of my kids high school awarded a valedictorian to a guy that had a 4.0 . The thing is though, he didn’t take anything. He chose the easy route, yet he was rewarded, just like the polls and the CFP people do. It’s so stupid. Makes you wonder how. We play real teams in the hardest football conference period, and are 25. We could beat 75% of the teams ranked ahead of us.

We’ve beaten one team that’s over .500.

 

[stolitonic]

There have been several eras of college in general but I’ll talk about the SEC since most arguments are saying the SEC is the toughest top to bottom.
Tenn’s historical winning % is around 67% and there have been many decades of highly winning teams, however up until the early 2000s football was not looked at as a money making option for schools. Just look at the highly rated coaches Fulmer competed against vs where the conference is now. How many opposing coaches in the SEC were considered great, during Neyland’s reign. Fulmer had Spurrier and that’s about it. Things changed about 2000. Better coaches started getting hired and Fulmer faded.
To my point, even during the high years of Fulmer Tenn was considered a good program, but was still not considered a top teir team. There are just a few of those just like basketball has the blue blood programs. Many on here complain about every loss, but Tenn is currently winning a little above there average. They are not a top teir such as Ala, Oh St, Mich, and even LSU. Even a&m is not a top teir. Money may buy wins or a NC, but it is only a short window. Even Fl only went through a short decade. I’m not sure why, but that is sports. Click the link to see Tenn is maybe 12th on average.

Tennessee Football Statistics and Records

Complete Tennessee college football database with statistics, records, and historical data.

www.winsipedia.com

Why I agree with most of your points-

Blue blood status in CFB has always been somewhat "fungible".

By that, if you assembled your list in 1940 it would look very different from reality in 2025. Does anyone look at the Ivy schools as blue bloods anymore?

25 years ago, Nebraska would have been considered a blue blood

The national press considered Tennessee a de facto blue blood in the 90s based on our success that decade and historically.


Had Saban decided to stay with the Dolphins and Bama floundered for another decade-I'm not so sure anyone could put them on the list with a straight face. "It's rolling baby"-need I say more?

Fulmer was never a great coach. He just won with superior talent. He is far from alone in history in the category. Most likely why nobody gave him a serious sniff after his downfall here

I recall him throwing his hat in the ring-for Clemson and getting laughed at- before they elevated Dabo. Don't recall him even getting interest from a G5 school otherwise

 

[Firebirdparts]

Tennessee has no business in the playoffs.

 

[MemphisVolFan1978]

Why I agree with most of your points-

Blue blood status in CFB has always been somewhat "fungible".

By that, if you assembled your list in 1940 it would look very different from reality in 2025. Does anyone look at the Ivy schools as blue bloods anymore?

25 years ago, Nebraska would have been considered a blue blood

The national press considered Tennessee a de facto blue blood in the 90s based on our success that decade and historically.


Had Saban decided to stay with the Dolphins and Bama floundered for another decade-I'm not so sure anyone could put them on the list with a straight face. "It's rolling baby"-need I say more?

Fulmer was never a great coach. He just won with superior talent. He is far from alone in history in the category. Most likely why nobody gave him a serious sniff after his downfall here

I recall him throwing his hat in the ring-for Clemson and getting laughed at- before they elevated Dabo. Don't recall him even getting interest from a G5 school otherwise

It’s sad how a little over a decade of incompetence by Tennessee has changed how this team is viewed historically. I looked at the overall records of Tennessee, Alabama and Ohio State now and before the start of 2009.

2025
Tennessee 879-418
Alabama 978-342
Ohio State 983-335

2008
Tennessee 768-328
Alabama 776- 316
Ohio State 781-282

We were 38-45 against Alabama, now 40-60.

Ohio State only had one more claimed national title than us.

2009-2020 killed us

 

[camp_steveo]

We are garbage. It’s simple as that.

Not true. Just need a few more players, especially on defense. And obviously our offensive line, especially Sanders, needs more experience.

 

[BreatheUT]

The CFP rankings demonstrate why the B1G and SEC should break away and play only each other in an NFL-like Conference situation leading to playoffs. No cupcakes. 9 conference games and 3 games with the other conference every year then a playoff from the top 4 of each conference leading to a College Super Bowl.

High quality football every week, well unless Northwestern and Rutgers are playing but that's hardly worse than most years of Vandy and MS State, if we're honest. Yes, I know this year is an exception.

The TV money is already there for both conferences and if the also ran conferences want to find a contract to play the winner of our tournament, let them set it up and we'll see if it's worth it.

And F Notre Dame. Neither the B1G nor the SEC need your "independence" crap anymore. We tried to get you to join a conference for decades and you were too stubborn. Hate it for you.

The B1G? Lol...the Big Ten has around 8 midget programs at least.

 

[UTFranklinVol]

do I think Indiana has earned their ranking? probably not. do I think Tennessee could beat them? also probably not.

theres a difference between "having the talent to beat someone" and actually going out and doing it. that's called execution and it's what Tennessee sucks at (players and coaches)

In no way shape or form does Tennessee beat 75% of the teams ranked ahead of us. we aren't good at execution.

 

[Orangeslide]

We need an SEC championship roster. Or we won't ever win it. Playoff talk is just absurd.

Playoffs? you talking playoffs?

 

[StuckInBamaVol]

Not true. Just need a few more players, especially on defense. And obviously our offensive line, especially Sanders, needs more experience.

Well, until we get those few more players…..we are