2023 SEC post-spring football power rankings

#3
#3
So this sports writer at USA Today is saying ESPN's FPI has the Vols wrong. The writer, Paul Myerberg, puts us (#3 in SEC) ahead of LSU (#4) in his power rankings. Us, with an FPI-projected record of 8-4 and FPI chance of making the playoffs below 3%, ahead of LSU with their FPI prediction of 10-3 and 24% playoff chance.

I agree with the USA Today fella on this one. Heh.

Go Vols!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Gandalf, HeadVol77, Seattle Hillbilly and 3 others
#4
#4
Don't feel too bad being ranked at 3. Honestly it's probably toss up between us and Bama, they still have a lot of quality players so they have history to give them the edge for now but that FPI record. Naw son. 10-2 is the lowest that's easily doable with this schedule. 11-1 wouldn't surprise me with the 1 lost being to Bama as I'm sure the home cooking will get some extras seasoning this year because of the lost they took last year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ENGRVOL, HeadVol77, Vol in Buckeye Land and 1 other person
#6
#6
unfrozencvmanvol said:
Based on Alabama's QB situation, we probably should be No. 2. They looked terrible this past weekend. UGA is unsettled too, but Carson Beck looked pretty good in their spring game.
Click to expand...
Alabama will be fine unfortunately. They have incredible athletes all over the field where we don’t. People like to forget how big hooker was in our win over bama last year. Our whole season really hinges on how Milton settles into that SEC schedule.
 
  • Like
Reactions: savannahfan
#7
#7
I believe Milton will be fine, as long as he can recognize when the protection is breaking down and scrambles before they get to him. Oh, and puts his shoulder down and initiates the contact.
 
#8
#8
EastTNVol6240 said:
Alabama will be fine unfortunately. They have incredible athletes all over the field where we don’t. People like to forget how big hooker was in our win over bama last year. Our whole season really hinges on how Milton settles into that SEC schedule.
Click to expand...
QB is a big deal for everyone though, even Bama. They didn't appear to have one Saturday. I think Saban's failed effort to poach Tyler Van Dyke from Miami shows that he agrees they are in trouble there.

LSU showed for years that you could have all the talent in the world but if your QB sucked it put a huge ceiling on your team. If Milton plays at the level he did against Clemson, we can roll them if they are forced to go with what they showed on Saturday.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: HeadVol77, Vol in Buckeye Land, norrislakevol and 2 others
#9
#9
bigorangepoppa said:
I believe Milton will be fine, as long as he can recognize when the protection is breaking down and scrambles before they get to him. Oh, and puts his shoulder down and initiates the contact.
Click to expand...
If Milton ever truly embraces his role as a runner, there are going to be a bunch of linebackers and safeties needing time in the injury tent next fall.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cherokeeeVOL, HeadVol77, Vol in Buckeye Land and 5 others
#11
#11
EastTNVol6240 said:
Alabama will be fine unfortunately. They have incredible athletes all over the field where we don’t. People like to forget how big hooker was in our win over bama last year. Our whole season really hinges on how Milton settles into that SEC schedule.
Click to expand...

I don't know if Bama will be fine or not, but I'm not ready to say their best days are in the rearview mirror. Milroe can make defenses respect his running ability and that will loosen up pass coverages.
 
  • Like
Reactions: norrislakevol
#12
#12
Did that little running back that Gary Danielson was drooling over go pro? Can't remember his name and too lazy to look up ANYTHING Bama.

Edit: I do remember him dropping a very catchable pass that would have almost guaranteed a winning field goal at the end of the game. Gary Danielson, crow about that for a while, will ya????
 
  • Like
Reactions: VFL-82-JP
#14
#14
ptcarter said:
Did that little running back that Gary Danielson was drooling over go pro? Can't remember his name and too lazy to look up ANYTHING Bama.

Edit: I do remember him dropping a very catchable pass that would have almost guaranteed a winning field goal at the end of the game. Gary Danielson, crow about that for a while, will ya????
Click to expand...

Yes, he's in the draft.
 
  • Like
Reactions: norrislakevol and ptcarter
#15
#15
unfrozencvmanvol said:
Based on Alabama's QB situation, we probably should be No. 2. They looked terrible this past weekend. UGA is unsettled too, but Carson Beck looked pretty good in their spring game.
Click to expand...

Yea, if Alabama struggles at QB (Milroe struggled throwing in the spring game and Simpson didn’t look ready) we could steal a game in T town. If our D can keep a one dimensional Tide offense from scoring many points then our high octane offense might be able to score enough to seal the deal. We’ll have to see how both teams play (on both sides of the ball) in those first six weeks of the season. I expect Bama’s O next year to definitely be more run oriented.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HeadVol77 and norrislakevol
#16
#16
unfrozencvmanvol said:
QB is a big deal for everyone though, even Bama. They didn't appear to have one Saturday. I think Saban's failed effort to poach Tyler Van Dyke from Miami shows that he agrees they are in trouble there.

LSU showed for years that you could have all the talent in the world but if your QB sucked it put a huge ceiling on your team. If Milton plays at the level he did against Clemson, we can roll them if they are forced to go with what they showed on Saturday.
Click to expand...

With their level of talent they don’t need an all American to stay relevant. A game manager can keep them in every game due to the talent and depth they have at every position. I wish you were correct, but under no circumstances will we be rolling bama. Especially with our defense.
 
#17
#17
EastTNVol6240 said:
With their level of talent they don’t need an all American to stay relevant. A game manager can keep them in every game due to the talent and depth they have at every position. I wish you were correct, but under no circumstances will we be rolling bama. Especially with our defense.
Click to expand...
You’re living in the past. It has been several years since a “game manager” was enough to win down there. Hurts, Tua, and Mac are all NFL guys, and Bryce will be soon. If they don’t figure the qb situation out by the TSIO it could be ugly for them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: irish1485 and HeadVol77
#18
#18
It’s nice to see someone in the sports media who isn’t crowning LSU just yet. Everyone else wants to act like they’re in the big 3 with UGA and Bama when we also beat Bama and throttled LSU in their own stadium last year on the way to a better record and a win in a more prestigious bowl game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HeadVol77 and MemphisVol77
#19
#19
Sarms58 said:
Yea, if Alabama struggles at QB (Milroe struggled throwing in the spring game and Simpson didn’t look ready) we could steal a game in T town. If our D can keep a one dimensional Tide offense from scoring many points then our high octane offense might be able to score enough to seal the deal. We’ll have to see how both teams play (on both sides of the ball) in those first six weeks of the season. I expect Bama’s O next year to definitely be more run oriented.
Click to expand...
Alabama may not have the best QB in the Nation, but they do have QBs who were recruited by almost every top college in the Nation. They will still be a powerful football team and will be well coached. They will be very difficult to beat, especially at home. Do we hav a chance to win? Yes, but we will have to play a very good game to do it. We can not turn the ball over, and we must be able to play better defensively than we played in any game last year. It that possible? Yes, but our young players must have developed to the point that they can play aggressively while not making serious mistakes. I look forward to this game and believe we will win this game if our defense has progressed as we all hope.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sarms58
#20
#20
Vol in Buckeye Land said:
You’re living in the past. It has been several years since a “game manager” was enough to win down there. Hurts, Tua, and Mac are all NFL guys, and Bryce will be soon. If they don’t figure the qb situation out by the TSIO it could be ugly for them.
Click to expand...
I’ll let you take a look at their recruiting classes over the last 4 years and then you can try that statement again. Do I hate Alabama? Yes. Am I also realistic? Yes. With just a mediocre QB they will achieve 10 wins due to depth and talent. Without superb QB play on our end Alabama has a huge edge due to our talent gap. People like to bury their head in the sand about how good hooker really was for us. Without high level QB play we likely get beat by a good bit last year. I don’t like them either but to pretend that Alabama is near football doomsday is outright silly.
 
#22
#22
EastTNVol6240 said:
I’ll let you take a look at their recruiting classes over the last 4 years and then you can try that statement again. Do I hate Alabama? Yes. Am I also realistic? Yes. With just a mediocre QB they will achieve 10 wins due to depth and talent. Without superb QB play on our end Alabama has a huge edge due to our talent gap. People like to bury their head in the sand about how good hooker really was for us. Without high level QB play we likely get beat by a good bit last year. I don’t like them either but to pretend that Alabama is near football doomsday is outright silly.
Click to expand...
It goes both ways. Without Bryce Young doing his best Clark Kent impression for four quarters, we would have beaten them by four or five touchdowns last year. The recruiting rankings don’t trump what I’ve seen on the field.
 
  • Like
Reactions: orangebloodgmc and irish1485
#24
#24
Hyperion said:
It's hard to believe they've fallen so far and missed on so many coaching hires. Napier really needs to show progress next year or those people will panic and he becomes a lame duck heading into his third year.
Click to expand...

I don't think he's the guy honestly.
 
#25
#25
EastTNVol6240 said:
Alabama will be fine unfortunately. They have incredible athletes all over the field where we don’t. People like to forget how big hooker was in our win over bama last year. Our whole season really hinges on how Milton settles into that SEC schedule.
Click to expand...
People forget how important Young was in Alabama being close. If Young had not played in that game, Tennessee wins by at least 21.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vol in Buckeye Land and orangebloodgmc
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top