AP and coaches Poll predictions....

[VolBalla2014]

Do you guys think we’re more talented this year than last year? I think so for defense but not offense.

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[KTrain]

There are always favorites...so I am opting for 14th.
I would prefer us to start lower and stay hungry.

Bad thing about starting too low you can never jump the usual suspects. I remember Auburn started out of Top 25 and ended 13-0 but on probation I think they were 11-0 before they got in top 10 T Bowden was their coach.
Its a climb and if you start too low and finish 5th or lower, well NEW Years 6 is best you can do, that would be sad.

 

[kckempf]

Bad thing about starting too low you can never jump the usual suspects. I remember Auburn started out of Top 25 and ended 13-0 but on probation I think they were 11-0 before they got in top 10 T Bowden was their coach.
Its a climb and if you start too low and finish 5th or lower, well NEW Years 6 is best you can do, that would be sad.

We started off the poll last year and we’re #1 in the first playoff ranking. I think TCU was unranked, too, and they made the playoff. There’s a certain amount of slotting by voters but a low initial ranking isn’t automatically keeping you out.

 

[KTrain]

We started off the poll last year and we’re #1 in the first playoff ranking. I think TCU was unranked, too, and they made the playoff. There’s a certain amount of slotting by voters but a low initial ranking isn’t automatically keeping you out.

Yeah but if OSU Michigan Alabama Clemson USCW & Georgia are undefeated when 1st poll comes out and we start out of Top 25 polls. I just don't see us jumping media favorites. That's why you have to hope for upsets or something like Missouri beating Georgia last year until the last drive which put doubt in voters head, if that don't happen we are not #1 going to Athens. It is all circumstantial, basically saying you're better off starting high, poll voters want to be right.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

We started off the poll last year and we’re #1 in the first playoff ranking. I think TCU was unranked, too, and they made the playoff. There’s a certain amount of slotting by voters but a low initial ranking isn’t automatically keeping you out.

Last year was a bit of a fluke, because so many top 10 teams just kept losing. That created churn, which opened up far more space than normal for lower-ranked (or unranked) teams to move up.

In a more standard sort of season, the top 10 tend to win most of the time, so there's little room for a low/unranked team to get past them.

We had the fortune in 2022 of (a) being awesome, (b) being really fun to watch, and (c) rising through chaos. Can't always count on (c).

Go Vols!