Preseason top 25?

#26
#26
(jakez4ut @ Apr 10 said:
Us aspiring on potential this year will be quite different that LSU and UF trying to live up to expectations.
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Ah, yes. The benefit of coming off a down year !! Nowhere to go but up, right?
 
#27
#27
(g8terh8ter_eric @ Apr 10 said:
Fox Sports Top 25 Preview

Rivals Top 25 Preview

Here's a couple of polls to debate about.....me personally I see Tennessee about 15th to start the season. We have WAY TOO MUCH talent not to sniff the Top 25, so I am gonna say Tennessee will be rank 12th to 17th when the OFFICIAL Preseason Polls come out.
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Seems that foxsport has a man crush on the SEC...
 
#28
#28
With the addition of coach Cut who has been working on Ainge's mechanics and confidence, and who will most likely totally run the offense....add to that the 1st 4 games in Knoxville with no early byes that for the Vols always seem to do more to cause the guys to lose their edge rather than heal and prepare, and 9 of the games in state. Yeah I can see reason to be optomistic about the upcoming season being a huge improvement. Im more concerned about our running game than the passing game truthfully...I know foster is a good back, I just get a gut feeling about him being...well lazy...in his preparation. I hope im wrong about that.
 
#29
#29
You're definitely right about the schedule. It sets up well for us . . .although I'm not sure it could set up worse than it did last year.
 
#30
#30
(lawgator1 @ Apr 10 said:
Ah, yes. The benefit of coming off a down year !! Nowhere to go but up, right?
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yep....unfortunatley. believe me, i'd rather have the expectations. but there is a certain giddiness that i can't help but to feel knowing that we should be underdogs in the UF, LSU, games and probably UGA and Bama too....

it's been a long time since UT wasn't a so called "favorite" in the SEC. it's going to be nice to be the hunters again, rather than the hunted.
 
#31
#31
(jakez4ut @ Apr 10 said:
yep....unfortunatley. believe me, i'd rather have the expectations. but there is a certain giddiness that i can't help but to feel knowing that we should be underdogs in the UF, LSU, games and probably UGA and Bama too....

it's been a long time since UT wasn't a so called "favorite" in the SEC. it's going to be nice to be the hunters again, rather than the hunted.
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Me too, I like when we have to go out and kick some butt to earn respect in the polls, it's much more satisfying that way. :ninja:
 
#32
#32
You'd all rather be underdogs?!?! :blink: What is that all about? I appreaciate how hard some of you look for the silver lining but c'mon. You are just making us look like a bunch of retards when you say crap like that.
 
#33
#33
(VolunteerHillbilly @ Apr 10 said:
You'd all rather be underdogs?!?! :blink: What is that all about? I appreaciate how hard some of you look for the silver lining but c'mon. You are just making us look like a bunch of retards when you say crap like that.
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We won the NC as underdogs in 1998, and I mean we were underdogs all season long. (Preseason #12 and #14.)
 
#34
#34
(volmanjr @ Apr 10 said:
Me too, I like when we have to go out and kick some butt to earn respect in the polls, it's much more satisfying that way. :ninja:
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The only downside to that is the what-if-teams-ahead-of-us-don't-lose scenario. It helps to start high in the polls because it gives you the advantage of controlling your own destiny. This is not like the basketball championship where, for example, the Gators started off unranked and won the national championship. Particularly in the case of playing for #1 at the end, but also just generally in terms of at large BCS status, you want to begin the season as high as you can.
 
#35
#35
(VolunteerHillbilly @ Apr 10 said:
You'd all rather be underdogs?!?! :blink: What is that all about? I appreaciate how hard some of you look for the silver lining but c'mon. You are just making us look like a bunch of retards when you say crap like that.
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go back and read the original post...i said that i would rather have the high expectations to start off. but since we don't there is a "no pressure" feeling as an underdog. it makes beating teams you aren't supposed to, especially your biggest rivals, that much better.

why do you think people storm the feild after beating us? if they were supposed to, who'd care? I know that's an extreme way to look at it...but c'mon you know what we mean.
 
#36
#36
(lawgator1 @ Apr 10 said:
The only downside to that is the what-if-teams-ahead-of-us-don't-lose scenario. It helps to start high in the polls because it gives you the advantage of controlling your own destiny. This is not like the basketball championship where, for example, the Gators started off unranked and won the national championship. Particularly in the case of playing for #1 at the end, but also just generally in terms of at large BCS status, you want to begin the season as high as you can.
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and that makes perfect sense for BCS contenders. this year, i don't think we're one of them. If we had a NC championship worthy team, of course i'd want to start as high as possible. But this year, that ain't us.

if we were to beat UF and/or LSU this season, they would be considered upsets. the same may be true about UGA or Bama. For the first time in a long time, there are no aspirations of BCS and NC's. they may still be goals, as i'm sure winning the SECE and SECCG are goals. and they should be at UT. but the expectation? FOR ME, not this year.

I think this year COULD be one of the funnest football seasons we've had in a while.....should we pull some of those upsets.
 
#37
#37
(lawgator1 @ Apr 10 said:
The only downside to that is the what-if-teams-ahead-of-us-don't-lose scenario. It helps to start high in the polls because it gives you the advantage of controlling your own destiny. This is not like the basketball championship where, for example, the Gators started off unranked and won the national championship. Particularly in the case of playing for #1 at the end, but also just generally in terms of at large BCS status, you want to begin the season as high as you can.
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It certainly helps if you are contending for the BCS.

In order to play for the NC this year the gators have to win at UT, Auburn and Fl.St. Win home games against Bama, SC, and LSU. Win the cocktail party. Probably beat Auburn or LSU for a 2nd time in the SECCG. UF has a good team but that is a tall order. If they can pull it off, and win the Sugar bowl, they will probably have to be an all-time top ten team.
 
#38
#38
(VolunteerHillbilly @ Apr 10 said:
You'd all rather be underdogs?!?! :blink: What is that all about? I appreaciate how hard some of you look for the silver lining but c'mon. You are just making us look like a bunch of retards when you say crap like that.
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UT teams have always played the underdog role well, when they are not expected to win. I don't expect to ranked very high this year and I will enjoy knocking off some ranked teams. If that makes me retarted then so be it.
 
#40
#40
(volmanjr @ Apr 10 said:
UT teams have always played the underdog role well, when they are not expected to win. I don't expect to ranked very high this year and I will enjoy knocking off some ranked teams. If that makes me retarted then so be it.
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Yeah that is true & it seems like when we are ranked near the top we fall off
 
#42
#42
I sort of like being the frontrunner. The underdog mentality gets overplayed IMO.
 
#43
#43
(lawgator1 @ Apr 10 said:
The only downside to that is the what-if-teams-ahead-of-us-don't-lose scenario. It helps to start high in the polls because it gives you the advantage of controlling your own destiny. This is not like the basketball championship where, for example, the Gators started off unranked and won the national championship. Particularly in the case of playing for #1 at the end, but also just generally in terms of at large BCS status, you want to begin the season as high as you can.
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After the season we had, if we are ranked we'll be so far back that there will be too many "what-if-" teams ahead of us. Don't get me wrong I want us to be ranked top 10 every season, but this yr I don't think that is a realistic wish.
 
#44
#44


All things considered, and especially in light of the lackluster nature of the team at year's end, if I were voting in one of the polls I think I'd make UT prove itself a little bit before they got a vote from me to be in the Top 25. It just felt at season's end that the team was not very good. The coaching change and the more favorable home schedule probably will help you a lot but that is too speculative relative to the way the team finished to give them a vote right now.
 
#45
#45
(lawgator1 @ Apr 10 said:
All things considered, and especially in light of the lackluster nature of the team at year's end, if I were voting in one of the polls I think I'd make UT prove itself a little bit before they got a vote from me to be in the Top 25. It just felt at season's end that the team was not very good. The coaching change and the more favorable home schedule probably will help you a lot but that is too speculative relative to the way the team finished to give them a vote right now.
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Well imagine that! A gator boy wouldn't give us a vote. Well you have a couple of negative posters on here that will agree with you. I think last year was an aboration and you will get you lizard butt handed to you this year. If anyone thinks last year is the norm for this team, your in for a big surprise.
 
#46
#46
(lawgator1 @ Apr 10 said:
All things considered, and especially in light of the lackluster nature of the team at year's end, if I were voting in one of the polls I think I'd make UT prove itself a little bit before they got a vote from me to be in the Top 25. It just felt at season's end that the team was not very good. The coaching change and the more favorable home schedule probably will help you a lot but that is too speculative relative to the way the team finished to give them a vote right now.
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I don't disagree with you one bit but IMO there are a lot of voters who just can't help themselves when it comes to voting for the usual suspects in the preseason polls. It's pretty much always the same teams year after year and then when a couple of them fall really far, like UT and Ok did last year, it's a great story about how the mighty have fallen. As you said earlier LG, the preseason polls really are meaningless unless you are one of a handful of teams with a legitimate shot at the BCSCG.
 
#48
#48
Frankly, I feel there should be little reason UT is not in the top 15...EVERY year!

This year, as last, depends on how prepared our Coaches grow this team.

Plenty of talent, plenty of game venures in our favor, plenty of tv exposure, plenty of fan support, much more than adequate facility support, more than enough National pub, etc...

Can anyone think of ANY reason why UT should EVER NOT be in top 20? >>Think about it!

Please give your argument WHY UT should not be in the Top 20 EVERY year.

Worse yet, can anyone possibly explain why UT w all our talent grew to the lower tier of the NCAA last year in offensive production?

C'mon now, please get real...
I know some want to change real to "jiggle" or somehing like> Trust me that is not ME!
 
#49
#49
(RealVol @ Apr 10 said:
C'mon now, please get real...
I know some want to change real to "jiggle" or somehing like> Trust me that is not ME!
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It's called life RealVol. Your favorite teams aren't going to win a championship ever year or be ranked in the Top 20 every year. It's just the way things go. How's that for real?
 
#50
#50
(RealVol @ Apr 10 said:
Can anyone think of ANY reason why UT should EVER NOT be in top 20? >>Think about it!

Please give your argument WHY UT should not be in the Top 20 EVERY year.
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No one is going to give point by point agrument. This is because normally when it happens it is due to injuries, arrests, bad team chemistry, and all the above. OWB said, Life Happens. I would have written sh*t happens which either way means the team is heading in the wrong direction. We should be there every year but we ain't. Life would be easy and quite honeslty boring if it all came so easy. Gotta fight for it. As grandpa said, "Some days you eat the bear and other days the bear eats you." Lets hope we are eating good this year.
 
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