Vols lack of r-e-s-p-e-c-t

#1
allvol

allvol

Eternally Optimistic
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#1
Tennessee needs to play for r-e-s-p-e-c-t each and every week against all opponents.

Some interesting facts regarding the AP poll. The Vols dropped to 15th (week 12) after their loss to Notre Dame. However, this is the 3rd straight week that the Vols have been ranked 15th..... and 5 of the 6 teams ranked between # 9 and # 14 (week 12) have lost... as well as # 4 Wisconsin losing twice. And most of them lost by wide margins....


To examine further....

#4 Wisconsin lost to Mich St 14-49 and Iowa 7-30
#8 Georgia lost to Auburn 6-24
#9 Michigan lost to Ohio State 21-37
#10 Virginia lost to Miami 21-31
#11 Florida State lost to Florida 13-20
#13 West Virginia lost to Boston College 17-36

Wisconsin is now #20
Virginia is now #16
Florida State is now #19
West Virginia is now #21

however,......
Georgia is back to #8 ?? :angry:
Michigan only dropped to #13

and the following happened..... :bad:
#16 Virginia Tech is now #11
#17 LSU is now #14
#18 Miami is now #9
#19 Iowa is now #12

:blink: Questionable things to ponder....
*Miami lost back-to-back games recently to unranked teams and is still ranked in the top ten.
*Georgia was beaten just as badly by Auburn as the Vols were AND Tennessee beat the Dawgs in Athens.
*Michigan just got hammered last week by un unranked team. They also lost to Notre Dame (who also beat Tennessee).
*Virginia Tech lost to a team with a losing record (NC State) and has just as many 'close-calls' as the Vols.
*LSU has played less impressive than any of the 2 loss teams listed. I think they are still getting props from last season.
*Iowa was hammered earlier in the season twice.... has some close wins, including 6-4 over Penn State (4-7).


:question: And here is what may happen the next two weeks...

Even if Virginia beats Virginia Tech.... the pollsters are likely to jump UVA over the Vols while Va Tech drops. And Va Tech plays Miami on Dec 4. The best scenario for the Vols has UVA beating Va Tech and then Va Tech beating Miami. If the Vols beat Auburn... they'll be ranked higher than all 3.

Arkansas is playing LSU for a bowl spot. For Arkansas, this game is kind of like a do-or-die playoff game. As poorly as LSU has played this season, I think Arkansas could pull off the upset.

Georgia plays Ga Tech this weekend. A win by an SEC opponent in a non-conference game helps the Vols somewhat. However, it would be nice if the Vols were ranked higher than a team they beat!

Louisville has 2 games remaining: Cincinnati and at Tulane. Cincinnati is on a 4-game win streak with some impressive wins. Tulane has no shot.

Boise State plays at Nevada and will probably finish the regular season undefeated.

Texas plays Texas A&M this week. A loss by Texas drops them to 9-2.

Cal plays at Southern Miss on Dec 4. A loss by Cal would also drop them to 9-2.

Southern Cal still has to play Notre Dame and UCLA.

Oklahoma plays probably Iowa State in the Big XII Title game.

Auburn plays Tennessee in the SECCG on Dec 4.

Utah, Michigan and Iowa have concluded their regular seasons. Looks like Michigan will be in the Rose Bowl, Iowa in the Citrus Bowl, and Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl.



 
#2
#2
Our problem is that we lost to Auburn early before losing to Auburn was cool and got therefore got downgraded more than GA. I don't know why GA even bothers trying to win their games - the 2 times they have lost this year, they've been restored to within 2 spots of their ranking within 2 weeks???

Even if we had beaten Notre Dame, I'd be willing to bet that we would still be ranked behind Georgia.
 
#3
#3
Excellent post, AllVol - I think the whole top 25 polling system needs to be revised and your list of questions about UT's ranking is a perfect example. While I'm sure that each team in the top 25 has a reason that to them means that they should be ranked higher, it's awfully hard to argue with the stats you've provided.

 
#4
#4
I pretty much knew most of these things, however seeing it all on one post gets me fired up! Especially Michigan and Georgia! :bad: I have said it once and I will say it again, UGA is now the most over rated team in the top ten now that Florida State is where they belong! :flush: the Dawgs!! Oh, I forgot Miami! :censored:
 
#5
#5
Don't you think the pollsters are keeping mind of our injury situation? Certainly, we're a better team if we have Brent and Erik with a healthy O-line. . . . I wonder how much of this includes "expectations."

The Michigan, Miami, and Georgia rankings are truly perplexing. Who knows. . . . I guess we'll just have to win in Atlanta and control our own destiny. Then we can say: TO HELL WITH THE POLLS!

(wonder if Georgia would still be ahead of us?)
 
#6
#6
Originally posted by GAVol@Nov 23, 2004 2:35 PM
Our problem is that we lost to Auburn early before losing to Auburn was cool and got therefore got downgraded more than GA. I don't know why GA even bothers trying to win their games - the 2 times they have lost this year, they've been restored to within 2 spots of their ranking within 2 weeks???

Even if we had beaten Notre Dame, I'd be willing to bet that we would still be ranked behind Georgia.
Click to expand...

Very true.
 
#7
#7
Originally posted by kiddiedoc@Nov 23, 2004 3:01 PM
(wonder if Georgia would still be ahead of us?)
Click to expand...

The way the top 10 works like an assembly line, I have no doubt that we would NOT pass Georgia if we beat Auburn. We'd have to make up at least 7 spots.

The bigger question is with a win by us, could Georgia actually pass Auburn and end up being the highest ranked SEC team without even playing in the SECCG or having beaten either Tennessee or Auburn? It could very easily happen.
 
#8
#8
the polling system is as flawed as the BCS... its all political and the voters are influenced by the media such as ESPN and others plus most don't actually see the games they base their votes on final scores and the spin they hear in the press.... and you can't tell me that coaches don't base their vote on how it will affect thier team(voting high for an upcoming opponent to make them look better with a win ect...)
 
#9
#9
another thing being ranked #1 because you won it last yr is BS look at LSU.... I say no rankings until the 3rd or 4th week of the season get a look at them in action before trying to place them in order.
 
#10
#10
Well, if the media and ESPN have something to do with it, then I am surprised that we are even ranked at 15!
 
#11
#11
I've always thought that the problem is that a lot of voters treat it like a ladder - no matter what you do from week to week you're ranking is at the mercy of how high or how low you have been ranked in the past.

For instance, Auburn right now is being penalized by being ranked 3th due to the fact that the pollsters perceived early on that Oklahoma and USC should be annointed the top 2 spots.
 
#12
#12
Remember, there are 2 weeks remaining. If the Dawgs are less than stellar in their game against Ga Tech.... and the Vols win impressively :unsure: over Kentucky; coupled with the announced return of one of the freshmen quarterbacks ... and a few losses by teams ranked above the Vols could propel the Vols a bit closer than the 7 spots they are currently behind Georgia. If the Vols were say 4 or 5 spots behind Georgia.... I think they might be able to catch them with a win over Auburn?
 
#13
#13
I've always thought that the problem is that a lot of voters treat it like a ladder - no matter what you do from week to week you're ranking is at the mercy of how high or how low you have been ranked in the past.

For instance, Auburn right now is being penalized by being ranked 3th due to the fact that the pollsters perceived early on that Oklahoma and USC should be annointed the top 2 spots.
Click to expand...


I agree with that wholeheartedly.
 
#14
#14
Originally posted by volmanjr@Nov 23, 2004 3:13 PM
another thing being ranked #1 because you won it last yr is BS look at LSU.... I say no rankings until the 3rd or 4th week of the season get a look at them in action before trying to place them in order.
Click to expand...

That was the most idiotic preseason ranking of all. Anybody that knew anything knew that they were going to have QB issues, and yet even after they squeaked by Oregon State because of missed PATs, the pollsters still refused to move them out of the top 5 until they got nuked by Georgia.
 
#15
#15
my point exactly , next yrs team is not like this yrs team, you lose key players to draft, sringtime injuries, some players develope and will play better than last yr, jr college players that make an impact (look at Mahelona) so how can you fairly an justly rank teams until they have palyed some games?
 
#16
#16
Originally posted by GAVol@Nov 23, 2004 3:09 PM
The bigger question is with a win by us, could Georgia actually pass Auburn and end up being the highest ranked SEC team without even playing in the SECCG or having beaten either Tennessee or Auburn? It could very easily happen.
Click to expand...

Now THAT'S scary.

I really agree that the best/most easily attainable solution to a lot of the problems with the polls is to only start rankings in, say, the first week of October. Just think how different things might look. You can read the lineup and still see remnants of the early voting in where teams stand today (see Miami, Georgia, and - of course - Auburn getting screwed). LSU is debatable: although they've been far from impressive, they have only lost to two top-10 teams, which you could argue leaves them ahead of us.
 
#17
#17
Preseason AP poll and where teams are now...

1. USC (1)
2. Oklahoma (2)
3. Georgia (8)
4. LSU (14)
5. Florida State (19)
6. Miami (9)
7. Texas (6)
8. Michigan (13)
9. Ohio State (NR)
10. West Virginia (21)
11. Florida (25)
12. Kansas State (NR)
13. California (4)
14. Tennessee (15)
15. Clemson (NR)
16. Virginia (16)
17. Auburn (3)
18. Missouri (NR)
19. Iowa (12)
20. Utah (5)
21. Wisconsin (20)
22. Maryland (NR)
23. Oregon (NR)
24. Purdue (NR)
25. Minnesota (NR)


Teams ranked now that were not in the preseason top 10...
Louisville (7)
Boise State (10)
Virginia Tech (11)
Boston College (17)
Arizona State (18)
Texas A&M (22)
Oklahoma State (23)
UTEP (24)
 
#18
#18
Georgia didn't even play anyone this past weekend and moved up 3 spots in the coaches poll.

I think it's very possible that if we beat AU for the SEC title, that UGA will move into the top 6 of the BCS and will be the other at large team slected.

The Utes will be funing over that one.

Bottom line is that both UGA and UT have 2 losses, both lost to Auburn, and UT beat UGA at UGA. There is no way to justify UGA being ranked ahead of us in either poll.

Even if we had beaten ND, I still don't see us ranked any higher than 9th in either poll (which isn't right either).
 
#19
#19
As bad is as this sounds I would love to see the pollsters explain the ranking of Tennessee behind Georgia "when we win the SEC Championship game"

 
#21
#21
ALLVOL I think a big part of it is that we have lost our 2 fab freshman at QB. Maybe I'm wrong but it sure would make a difference to me if I were voting (that is if I was not a VOL). If a team let's say Auburn lost Campbell and the Caddy. I would vote them quite lower than if they had not lost them, even if they won the game. Especially if they struggled with the mighty Comode'adores the next game they played. I love my VOLS 110% and I bleed orange. But I try to stay in reality. We have had a great year, much better than I thought we would. It is now up to us. If we blow KY out (which we could) and win in hotlanta you will see the respect. There are a bunch of ? about our team right now. Who are we? Which team will show up? The team that handed it ot GA or the team that looked flat with ND? Either way I will be in Hotlanta screaming by rear end off and calling other fans out if they are not joining me.

Side Note: GA being ahead of us is completely wrong! That one is indefensible. Mark Richt is a media darling and until the shine rubs off they will get the benefit of the doubt, even when it doesn't make sence.
 
#22
#22
thats the bueaty of being a pollster. You can dish out injustice and never have to publicly explain your reasoning. And in the event Tennessee were to upset Auburn, and the somehow get a sugarbowl win...youll never hear any say they were wrong or even ackknowledge the vols were treated like a red head stepchild. to quote myself youll see a politician elected on a raise taxes platform before you see any media admit the vols were disrespected in the polls. Its all part of the 'snub the hillbillies' package.
 
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