#12 ranking in AP Poll

[Vol737]

We started last year ranked 24th and the season turned out to be terrific. UT will find itself in the top ten sooner than later. My money is on LSU knocking off FSU. I don't see Texas beating Bama week 2. Additionally, Clemson goes on the road to face a Duke team that won 9 games last year. That could be a dark horse week one upset if Dabo does not have his team prepared. Vols likely finish 2-0 after the second week going to the swamp as a top ten team. GBO!!!

LSU should've beaten FSU last year. I'll take LSU in that one too, even still. We need Bama to beat Texas, but I hope it's a meat grinder for both. Don't sleep on Texas, though, with Bama's QB issues. I don't know what Duke is returning, but I would love to see that upset. Start clearing out the Top 10 for us. We have to come home from the Swamp with a W and with Joe Milton having played lights out.

 

[amaralfan1]

Penn State always has to start the season in the Top 10 to justify having OSU and Michigan in the Top 5. Happens every year.

 

[jaxvol]

Problem with pre-season polls is that it’s hard to drop. Michigan plays 4 high school teams at home to start.

 

[vavolfan6]

I find it odd that Tennessee is ranked below Clemson in all of the polls, yet we dominated them last season despite not having Hooker, Hyatt, Tillman, or Jeremy Banks. The only real contributors we lost from that game was Darnell Wright and Byron Jones, albeit tough players to replace.

But what has Clemson done this offseason that they deserve a unanimous higher ranking?

We added a stud WR in Donte Thorton, reinforcements at LB, and an overall higher rated recruiting class than them. Clemson meanwhile lost some key defensive players in the NFL who they are aiming to replace with incoming freshman, albeit highly rated ones. But where are they getting better on offense? And they could regress on defense. Tennessee is poised to improve on defense from last season. The only difference is they get to play cupcakes in the ACC.

 

[kckempf]

Dear Lord is that guy still playing...or even able to play...seems like he was recruited by Jones, went to Indiana for what seemed like 5 years, and has been at Washington for like 3 years now.

Guess that's what a Covid year plus multiple years of medical redshirts will get you...dude has to be oldest guy in college football this year.

Joe Milton is older than him.

 

[VAVol85]

Guess for the 17th straight year Texas is back

Legends of August!

 

[volfanhill]

But Clemson has Cade Klubenic.

I understand he has a great family

 

[MiramarVol]

Start me off here every year. Teams will lose & get upset. As they do we rise. This should also serve as motivation and touch a nerve in disrespect. As mentioned we soundly be Clemson, but also did the same to LSU on the road. Either Texas or Bama will fall after the 1st week, and others will follow. Just take care of business each week and we'll be fine.

 

[VAVol85]

Problem with pre-season polls is that it’s hard to drop. Michigan plays 4 high school teams at home to start.
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ECU is often better than Appy State…just saying.

 

[Zues1]

1. UGA
2. MICH
3. Ohio St
4. Bama
5. LSU
6. USC
7. Penn St
8. FSU
9. Clemson
10. Washington
11. TX
12. Vols
13. ND
14. Utah
15. ORE
16. Kansas St
17. TCU
18. Oregon St
19. WI
20. OK
21. UNC
22. Ole Miss
23. TX A&AM
24. Tulane
25. Iowa

Hahaha at Michigan and Ohio State in the top three. Every year those teams are preseason top 5 . Play a light schedule, hang around the top five.
Presto > playoff spot.

 

[allvols4life]

We should be above Texas, Clemson, and FSU

We should be ahead of pedophile state and U dub also... not so sure about Free shoes U!

 

[Vol in Buckeye Land]

1. UGA
2. MICH
3. Ohio St
4. Bama
5. LSU
6. USC
7. Penn St
8. FSU
9. Clemson
10. Washington
11. TX
12. Vols
13. ND
14. Utah
15. ORE
16. Kansas St
17. TCU
18. Oregon St
19. WI
20. OK
21. UNC
22. Ole Miss
23. TX A&AM
24. Tulane
25. Iowa

We would throw down on at least 7 of the teams ranked ahead of us.

 

[cwbytruckers]

The one quote i hope we are done hearing about Tennessee is they are the youngest team in college football. I was so sick of that excuse even though it was the state of the program. Thankfully we have leadership in all areas of the program now.

 

[LEATHERHEAD VOL]

Not surpirsed we are in that 10 to 13 area...I am surprised by a couple of the teams ahead of us.
How do we get a seat behind Clemson when we soundly beat them in the last game of last season?

Because they have CADE KLUBNIk!

 

[Vol in Buckeye Land]

Joe won the Orange Bowl and MVP. I think it's Clemson QB that has a lot to prove

Thank you. Georgia, Bama, OSU, Penn State, and Clemson all have qbs with a hell of a lot more to “prove” than Joe does. Most of them haven’t taken any meaningful snaps.

 

[GreyWolf1129]

There are about 5 teams ahead of us that I question. We are just going to have to go out there and win 11 games again (hopefully more).

Make it 7. Unfortunately, none of them play in the SEC, so...

Go Vols. If Milton reaches his potential, and the defense takes a step up, we might not make the Big 4...but we'll have a say in who does.

And if we do...there isn't a non-SEC team out there that can hang with that team. Winning a Natty is a mixture of talent and timing. And sometimes a bit of luck. I'll say this: Notre Dame has won their last NC. UT has not.

Go Vols.

 

[Orange931]

Sooner or later some of our fans are gonna have to quit with the “it’s motivation and we’ll have a chip on our shoulder” stuff. We more than earned a Top 5 spot for THIS years team. This team deserves to be rewarded and ranked where they deserve to be.

 

[DirtyDawg]

Preseason polls SUCK. They create bias that is hard to change. GA will be #1 the entire season with that lame assed schedule

No we we won’t. It’s obvious that Playoff rankings take quality wins very much into account. Prime example is last season. You guys were ranked #1 in the first playoff rankings bc you had better wins.

Edit: I’m not saying it’s impossible for GA to stay #1 throughout, but for example, if you guys go undefeated before our game, I can almost guarantee that TN is ranked higher than GA when we meet. And very likely #1. There are other schools that could easily jump GA in the rankings by not losing.

Although, everyone wants to talk about how easy GA’s schedule is. I bet that by seasons end GA will have played more ranked teams than most.

 

[eskimovol]

No we we won’t. It’s obvious that Playoff rankings take quality wins very much into account. Prime example is last season. You guys were ranked #1 in the first playoff rankings bc you had better wins.

Yet bama, lsu, and usc were all more likely to end up in the playoff last year than us and out ranked us, or were right behind us, despite struggling more throughout the season. The committee ignores their own standards and ranks for ratings.

 

[DirtyDawg]

Yet bama, lsu, and usc were all more likely to end up in the playoff last year than us and out ranked us, or were right behind us, despite struggling more throughout the season. The committee ignores their own standards and ranks for ratings.

I agree that there is very likely an element that ranks for ratings bc it just makes sense financially. But this isn’t why TN was left out of the playoff. If TN doesn’t lose to SC they are 100% in the Playoff over any of the teams you mentioned. It’s not about ratings here, hell TN would bring great ratings. This was about having lost two games. That is why TCU and tOSU made it. Only one loss.

I’m not saying it’s fair, just what happened.

 

[peaygolf]

 

[Kylo]

I'm convinced that people vote for Texas in preseason polls just because it's easy to find on a map. If ever there was a team that should be in the "show me" category . . .

Texas is the new Notre Dame...

 

[Vol737]

Problem with pre-season polls is that it’s hard to drop. Michigan plays 4 high school teams at home to start.
View attachment 569829

If you’re a U of M fan, that home schedule is awful. A complete snooze-fest until Ohio State comes to town last game of the season. I wouldn’t walk across the street to go watch their home games.

 

[eskimovol]

I agree that there is very likely an element that ranks for ratings bc it just makes sense financially. But this isn’t why TN was left out of the playoff. If TN doesn’t lose to SC they are 100% in the Playoff over any of the teams you mentioned. It’s not about ratings here, hell TN would bring great ratings. This was about having lost two games. That is why TCU and tOSU made it. Only one loss.

I’m not saying it’s fair, just what happened.

I agree they got 1-4 right based on record. It’s what they they did with 5-10 or so that was a sham. Every team but Clemson had the same amount of losses and struggled more vs a weaker schedule and, as was repeated at the time last year, bama and lsu both had losses to us as well but were ranked ahead of us at one point. Letting saban have his own moment to plead bamas case was the cherry on top.

For the record, I don’t care where the preseason polls rank us, it’s still a nice change to start the season ranked.

 

[livefaith]

Perfect place to be. Not too much pressure. And all we have to do is win one of the biggies and we're rocketed right to the top to compete for a championship. Some of you guys put way too much emotion into our placement on an irrelevant list like this.