ESPN Rates Tennessee third best team in 1998…

#1
Hairy Vols

Hairy Vols

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#1
I was only 8 when we on the championship so someone please tell me… what there any confusion about who the best was? They said we were THIRD in the AP and pretty much that Ohio State was robbed… and to top it off Kansas State was better. Am I missing something? Lol. I’m posting this to ask, for anyone who was older when we won the Championship have they ever heard this before?
 

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#5
#5
98 was a crazy season.

K St needed an upset from undefeated UCLA or Tenn to make the Championship as they were #3 BCS. UCLA faced Miami in last week of season due to the original game being postponed by a hurricane. UCLA lost a close one there. K St just snapped like a 30 yr losing skid to Nebraska and were cruising. K St lost in double OT to Texas A&M that final week. They dominated most of their opponents that year.

Hard to say who was the best. We were certainly one of the best and for sure the luckiest.

I'd wager some Vol fans would rate the 96 or 97 squads as better than the 98 squad. Sometimes you need luck more than anything else. See Auburn 2010.
 
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#8
#8
Volunteer_Kirby said:
98 was a crazy season.

K St needed an upset from undefeated UCLA or Tenn to make the Championship as they were #3 BCS. UCLA faced Miami in last week of season due to the original game being postponed by a hurricane. UCLA lost a close one there. K St just snapped like a 30 yr losing skid to Nebraska and were cruising. K St lost in double OT to Texas A&M that final week. They dominated most of their opponents that year.

Hard to say who was the best. We were certainly one of the best and for sure the luckiest.

I'd wager some Vol fans would rate the 96 or 97 squads as better than the 98 squad. Sometimes you need luck more than anything else. See Auburn 2010.
Click to expand...

Thank you, Brandon Stewart. 🏆
 
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#10
#10
Tennessee finished the season as the only undefeated team at 13-0 with wins against six ranked teams, four of which were top 10 and two ranked #2 at the time of the game. Most people still talk about Chris Weinke being injured and not playing in the Fiesta Bowl but they tend to forget that Jamal Lewis missed the last eight games with a knee injury for the Vols. Ohio State beat five ranked teams that season, including two top ten, with Penn State being the highest ranked at #8. They lost, at home, to an unranked Michigan State team coached by Nick Saban. Kansas State beat three ranked teams, none of which were top ten, with Nebraska being the highest ranked at #11. They lost to the only top ten team they played, Texas A&M, who was #10, They also lost their bowl game to unranked Purdue.
 
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#11
#11
deatojl said:
Tennessee finished the season as the only undefeated team at 13-0 with wins against six ranked teams, four of which were top 10 and two ranked #2 at the time of the game. Most people still talk about Chris Weinke being injured and not playing in the Fiesta Bowl but they tend to forget that Jamal Lewis missed the last eight games with a knee injury for the Vols. Ohio State beat five ranked teams that season, including two top ten, with Penn State being the highest ranked at #8. They lost, at home, to an unranked Michigan State team coached by Nick Saban. Kansas State beat three ranked teams, none of which were top ten, with Nebraska being the highest ranked at #11. They lost to the only top ten team they played, Texas A&M, who was #10, They also lost their bowl game to unranked Purdue.
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Wasn't Tulane undefeated? Clearly we were better than them but I thought that was the year they went undefeated as well.
 
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#14
#14
Hairy Vols said:
I was only 8 when we on the championship so someone please tell me… what there any confusion about who the best was? They said we were THIRD in the AP and pretty much that Ohio State was robbed… and to top it off Kansas State was better. Am I missing something? Lol. I’m posting this to ask, for anyone who was older when we won the Championship have they ever heard this before?
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It's not 3rd in the AP but 3rd in the SP+ ratings which is one of the myriad of rankings and it didn't even exist until 10 years later.

'SP+ is a “tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency” that has been in use since 2008.'
 
#16
#16
Tennessee was the ONLY D-1 (Power Five Conference) UNDEFEATED team (13-0) in 1998! (Tulane doesn’t remotely matter)

Plus, it was the First year of the BCS - which matched #1 -vs- #2…..

Not like the old bowl-system with “divided” or “shared” championships!

Make NO mistake: Tennessee was #1 - And the ONLY National Champion in 1998!!!!!

DEAL WITH IT!
 
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#17
#17
Volunteer_Kirby said:
98 was a crazy season.

K St needed an upset from undefeated UCLA or Tenn to make the Championship as they were #3 BCS. UCLA faced Miami in last week of season due to the original game being postponed by a hurricane. UCLA lost a close one there. K St just snapped like a 30 yr losing skid to Nebraska and were cruising. K St lost in double OT to Texas A&M that final week. They dominated most of their opponents that year.

Hard to say who was the best. We were certainly one of the best and for sure the luckiest.

I'd wager some Vol fans would rate the 96 or 97 squads as better than the 98 squad. Sometimes you need luck more than anything else. See Auburn 2010.
Click to expand...
Were we lucky to lose Jamal Lewis against Auburn?

Both Kansas State and UCLA would also lose their bowl games and finish with 2 losses ... while Ohio State had lost at home to Michigan State, who was not that good in'98.

Tennessee was a pretty clear cut champion that year.
 
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#18
#18
FSU being without Chris Weinke was the difference in that game. They were actually down to their 3rd string Qb. Jamal Lewis wasn’t as big of a loss for us because Travis Henry was his back up. We had a great team that year and a lot of luck along the way. Glad we won.
 
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#21
#21
Of course an undefeated Tennessee National Champion wasn’t the best team. I’ve said it a thousand times and I’ll say it again: nobody cares about Tennessee except Tennessee fans. F everyone else. Us against the world in every sport year round.
 
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