Doesn't change the fact you guys went full P____ to get out of that game and everyone knows it! You might win it but not for a lack of trying to get out of it!
I understand, but rankings have never been too big on "who beat who" when it comes to final rankings when looking at teams with more than 1 loss (or maybe even 2 losses). The newer ones seem to have more of a " body of work" type focus (while the AP and Coaches have more of a short-term memory, "how have you done the last week" type thing going on).
Last year, Ole Miss was ranked higher than UF before the bowls even though they had the same number of losses and UF beat them, not to mention UF stayed ranked a space above LSU when both had 3-losses even though the Tigers beat the Gators.
The year before, GT was ranked above UGA with an identical number of losses even though the Bulldogs had won that year. (There are likely more than those 3 cases, but I really don't want to go through all the teams' schedules / don't have enough time right now.)
That said, UT can't struggle and win two close games, but I'm not sure they need to necessarily be blowouts either.