Vol fans should enjoy this from the Gary Parrish Poll Attacks:
AP poll: I knew somebody would do it. Just had to get the ballots and start looking, and I knew I'd find it in seconds. So I got the ballots and started looking, and, seconds later, I found the ballot I knew I'd find -- the ballot that has Pittsburgh ahead of Tennessee despite the fact that Tennessee is undefeated with a dominating win over Pittsburgh. The ballot belongs to Elton Alexander of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.
He's a friend.
So -- as I tell my son right before he must be disciplined -- this, Elton, is going to be harder for me than it is for you. But the Poll Attacks do not play favorites, and I can't sit here and let you get away with ranking Pittsburgh No. 4 and Tennessee No. 9 on your ballot. Pitt, you might've heard, lost a pretty lopsided game this past weekend. In Pittsburgh. To Tennessee. Which means the Vols are still undefeated, and that they now have wins over the two schools picked first and second in the preseason Big East poll. And yet, Elton, you have three Big East teams still ranked ahead of Tennessee, including the Big East team that just lost to Tennessee after trailing the Vols by 21 points in the second half. Beyond that, why aren't the Vols in the top five (or even top three), period?
They meet every criteria when it comes to ranking teams. They have obvious talent (two All-Americans in the starting lineup), a coach with a proven history of success (Bruce Pearl wins nearly 80 percent of his games), signature victories (over Villanova in New York and over Pitt in Pittsburgh) and no losses. There is absolutely no reason to be skeptical, but that's another post for another day. For this day, let's just keep it simple: You can rank Pittsburgh wherever you like, but you can't have the Panthers ahead of the Vols. That makes no sense. And it's why Elton Alexander's ballot looks silly -- as do the ballots belonging to The Capital's John McNamara (Pitt at No. 6, UT at No. 8), the Free Lance-Star's Steve DeShazo (Pitt at No. 6, UT at No. 8), and the Olean Times-Herald's J.P. Butler (Pitt at No. 7, UT at No. 9). I mean, come on guys. I post my updated Top 25 (and one) every Sunday night. If you have to cut-and-paste it, just cut-and-paste it.
