Thanks for the credit OP; oddly enough, you're one of my favorite posters in the years I've been lurking. But we don't need pollsters to get to Atlanta. We just have to keep winning, and Saturday should be another W.
Losses to both A&M and Alabama will not keep you out of Atlanta if you run the table in the East.
Florida was the only test for the Vols. UGA, USCe, Vandy, Kentucky... those are all wins, Mizzou is only test left, if UT plays them like they did the 2nd half of last weeksends game. All roads lead to Atlanta and a rematch to Bama.
ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY SURE TENNESSEE WONT GO OUT AND LAY AN EGG AGAINST GEORGIA...OR MAYBE JUST STINK IT UP AS THEY HAVE MOST THIS SEASON WITH EXCEPTION OF HALF OR TWO........
WELL NEITHER ARE THEY!!! HENCE 11th.
IF WE WANT RESPECT OR BETTER YET, IF THE TEAM WANTS RESPECT.... RUN THE BOARD!
You beat UF as the favorite, at home, and so the simple fact that you won should not have been treated as any sort of surprise.
Where I think the voters are not giving you enough credit is the way you won. You were down 21-3 at half and looked like you were headed for a sure loss, and came out and quickly erased that deficit and pulled away.
And as much as it will hurt you to admit it, Florida is not bad, especially defensively. So imo you ought to be more in the 7-10 area in the polls right now.
P.S. This is not a trap.
I haven't watched Mizzou's games, but I've looked at their season so far. Why is everyone so high on them? They did take care of their cupcakes but lost both games against P5 teams so far and neither of the teams they lost to are exactly world beaters this season.
To me it's because they are getting better and better each week. They have found an offense to go with their D and can now push the ball downfield via the air.
The UGA game they looked the better team throughout the entire game IMO and UGA scored at the very end of the game to escape with a win. Mizzo seemed to be their equal or maybe a tad bit better but lost last min followed by a game where Mizzo scored what, 79 points? I know it's a cupcake but that's a lot vs any team and I quit watching that game before halftime but I heard they played 10min quarters in the 2nd half and still put up 79.
That's pretty impressive and I would worry about them just as much as I would vs UGA. Maybe more if they continue to improve as the season goes along.
Way to much human bias in this system, expand the playoffs to 12 or 16 and settle it on the field!
It makes sense that voters would doubt us. We haven't been nationally relevant since 2001. (You can't count 04 and 07 because we weren't NATIONALLY relevant)
On the one hand, there is a certain logic to simply dividing the country up regionally, and having the champion from each region make the playoffs, similar to the NFL. It would preserve natural rivalries based on geography.
On the other hand, it would unfairly penalize the SEC, which (although we seem a bit down overall this year) almost always has within it 3-4 teams that are deserving of being in the Top 12-15 teams each year.
I mean, what's it going to be like for a team from the Northeast? Boston College gets in beating the likes of Fordham and U of Buffalo, while a Tennessee is left out of consideration because of Alabama or some other beast from the West?
Washington State gets in by beating Gonzaga?
The State of Texas would probably be its own region, with A & M, Houston, U of Texas.
I like it like it is right now. I think it maintains excitement, and more importantly balance, to try to get one of the four coveted spots, but does not force the playoffs to take a team that is clearly inferior to the second and third place teams in another conference, i.e. the SEC.
Not always going to be perfect, but that is not the standard.