Vols Move to #14 in AP Poll

[D-Vols]

This just seems like generating stress for no reason to me. Let your limbic system take a break until we beat Alabama AND Georgia. Let's get excited after that happens.

FYP

 

[fefe]

Polls don't matter. If we go 10-2 or better, we are in the CFP

 

[A2K]

Not sure I could argue it but damn sure perturbed by it!

 

[LordBolton]

We played Chattanooga. It isn’t unreasonable for Miami and USC to pass us after beating Florida and LSU.

Just win and it’ll come out in the wash

I don't see how #23 beating #13 on a late pass warrants a 10 spot jump. 5 maybe.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I don't see how #23 beating #13 on a late pass warrants a 10 spot jump. 5 maybe.

In the heads of all the poll writers in the Northeast, Midwest and Left Coast, it's not #23 beating #13. It's a "B10 team" proving the SEC can be beat. Hugely worthy of celebration and praise among all those voters. That's why the out-sized bump for USCw.

It's not right, doesn't make much sense, but that's the way it goes.

Go Vols!

 

[kckempf]

Kind of disingenuous. He failed at USC, yes. But ole miss isn’t a traditional power. He’s the first coach to ever win 10+ games there and he’s sustained that success for the most part.

And I’m not someone who clamored for Kiffin back in 17 or 20

If you don't include Johnny Vaught or David Cutcliffe or Hugh Freeze perhaps. I do think Kiffin is their first coach to win more than 10 in a season however.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

If you don't include Johnny Vaught or David Cutcliffe or Hugh Freeze perhaps. I do think Kiffin is their first coach to win more than 10 in a season however.

Right on, brother.

Johnny Vaught won 10 in a season (4 different times) back when the regular season might only include 9 games (sometimes 10), and the post-season was never more than 1 bowl game.

Plus, Johnny Vaught's 10-win seasons were often SEC and national championship seasons. Yes, Ole Miss has won a national title, heh.

In other words, 10 out of 12 or 11 out of 13 isn't nearly as impressive as 10 out of 10.

So I'm not buying the "zomg look what Kiffin is able to do at a perennial loser school like Ole Miss, he is da bomb." No, Johnny Vaught was da bomb, Kiffin's just...well, Kiffin.

Go Vols!

 

[NighthawkVol]

I'm fine with this, the longer they keep ignoring the Vols, the hungrier they will become.

This is my attitude. Polls are meaningless now. Anything that keeps the team from getting complacent is good. Keep the Vols out of the top 10 until it matters

 

[maryvillenative]

I like how ND beats an average A&M team and then gets a cakewalk the rest of the year to play a little above average USC and we get to listen to them be hyped up all year

Exactly, their schedule is ridiculous and they'll be over-hyped the rest of the year. I haven't missed hearing about over the last few years. Here's their schedule:

DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT	W-L (CONF)
Sat, Aug 31	@20 Texas A&M	W23-13	1-0 (0-0)
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	TV
Sat, Sep 7	vsNorthern Illinois
Sat, Sep 14	@Purdue
Sat, Sep 21	vsMiami (OH)
Sat, Sep 28	vs22 Louisville
Sat, Oct 12	vsStanford
Sat, Oct 19	vs23 Georgia Tech *
Sat, Oct 26	vsNavy *
Sat, Nov 9	vsFlorida State
Sat, Nov 16	vsVirginia
Sat, Nov 23	vsArmy *
Sat, Nov 30	@13 USC

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

Right on, brother.

Johnny Vaught won 10 in a season (4 different times) back when the regular season might only include 9 games (sometimes 10), and the post-season was never more than 1 bowl game.

Plus, Johnny Vaught's 10-win seasons were often SEC and national championship seasons. Yes, Ole Miss has won a national title, heh.

In other words, 10 out of 12 or 11 out of 13 isn't nearly as impressive as 10 out of 10.

So I'm not buying the "zomg look what Kiffin is able to do at a perennial loser school like Ole Miss, he is da bomb." No, Johnny Vaught was da bomb, Kiffin's just...well, Kiffin.

Go Vols!

You beat me to it on the Johnny Vaught stuff, hell of a coach.

 

[ru4real-really?]

Vols would have to go into top five in this grouping to be an underdog!

 

[VolArmy74]

Now if we beat a top 25 NC State team this week and don't jump back past them, you'll know there's something rotten in the AP. The Miami leap is especially odd, because people expect Florida to struggle for 6 wins this year.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Now if we beat a top 25 NC State team this week and don't jump back past them, you'll know there's something rotten in the AP. The Miami leap is especially odd, because people expect Florida to struggle for 6 wins this year.

The unusually large bump MIami got off beating a broken Florida squad is actually much more about Florida State getting beat by Georgia Tech and Clemson getting demolished by Georgia.

See, #10 FSU was the Chosen One to win the ACC a first round bye in the playoffs as one of the four highest-ranked conference champs. #14 Clemson was the backup.

It just won't do for a 13-0 Liberty or a 13-0 Memphis to be ranked higher than the ACC (or B12) champ. Which could happen if the ACC (or B12) champ ends up 10-3 or 9-4.

And it suddenly looked like FSU and Clemson could go 10-3 or 9-4.

Oops.

So after those two choked, all the ACC-footprint AP poll ballot holders, in desperation, shifted their highest-possible ballot spots to Miami as the new Great Hope. A double-barrel shift, if you will, like two fellas jumping onto one end of the seesaw to launch the one fella on the other side twice as high.

And so the Hurricanes leapt forward like a grasshopper on steroids.

Don't read too much into this. No conspiracy theory here. I'm not saying all the AP poll ballot holders get together in a conference call late every Saturday night to coordinate their votes. It's not organized that way. It just happens organically, because the beat writers for the Sun Sentinel and Charlotte Observer who cover the ACC are going to -- consciously or sub-consciously -- nudge ACC teams a bit favorably compared to the non-ACC teams on their ballots. And organize their ballots to help the ACC succeed. Just human nature and a bit of homerism.

So there it is: Miami's bump was more about FSU and Clemson losing than it was about Miami winning. I think.

Go Vols!

 

[DirtyDawg]

The unusually large bump MIami got off beating a broken Florida squad is actually much more about Florida State getting beat by Georgia Tech and Clemson getting demolished by Georgia.

See, #10 FSU was the Chosen One to win the ACC a first round bye in the playoffs as one of the four highest-ranked conference champs. #14 Clemson was the backup.

It just won't do for a 13-0 Liberty or a 13-0 Memphis to be ranked higher than the ACC (or B12) champ. Which could happen if the ACC (or B12) champ ends up 10-3 or 9-4.

And it suddenly looked like FSU and Clemson could go 10-3 or 9-4.

Oops.

So after those two choked, all the ACC-footprint AP poll ballot holders, in desperation, shifted their highest-possible ballot spots to Miami as the new Great Hope. A double-barrel shift, if you will, like two fellas jumping onto one end of the seesaw to launch the one fella on the other side twice as high.

And so the Hurricanes leapt forward like a grasshopper on steroids.

Don't read too much into this. No conspiracy theory here. I'm not saying all the AP poll ballot holders get together in a conference call late every Saturday night to coordinate their votes. It's not organized that way. It just happens organically, because the beat writers for the Sun Sentinel and Charlotte Observer who cover the ACC are going to -- consciously or sub-consciously -- nudge ACC teams a bit favorably compared to the non-ACC teams on their ballots. And organize their ballots to help the ACC succeed. Just human nature and a bit of homerism.

So there it is: Miami's bump was more about FSU and Clemson losing than it was about Miami winning. I think.

Go Vols!

I hadn’t thought of this. Just say hypothetically that a team such as Memphis, Liberty, or Boise State wins their conference and is actually somehow ranked higher than the ACC champ or the Big 12 champ at season’s end. Would such a team get the bye instead of a lower ranked P4 conference champ?

 

[DC_Vol]

Now if we beat a top 25 NC State team this week and don't jump back past them, you'll know there's something rotten in the AP. The Miami leap is especially odd, because people expect Florida to struggle for 6 wins this year.

 

[chuckiepoo]

In the heads of all the poll writers in the Northeast, Midwest and Left Coast, it's not #23 beating #13. It's a "B10 team" proving the SEC can be beat. Hugely worthy of celebration and praise among all those voters. That's why the out-sized bump for USCw.

It's not right, doesn't make much sense, but that's the way it goes.

Go Vols!

…ya nailed it.

 

[ntxVOL]

I hadn’t thought of this. Just say hypothetically that a team such as Memphis, Liberty, or Boise State wins their conference and is actually somehow ranked higher than the ACC champ or the Big 12 champ at season’s end. Would such a team get the bye instead of a lower ranked P4 conference champ?

Yes, but the committee controls the CFP rankings. So, I wouldn't bet on that happening except for an extreme case where an upset happened in a CCG and you wind up with a 3 loss champion for example.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I hadn’t thought of this. Just say hypothetically that a team such as Memphis, Liberty, or Boise State wins their conference and is actually somehow ranked higher than the ACC champ or the Big 12 champ at season’s end. Would such a team get the bye instead of a lower ranked P4 conference champ?

Yep, they would. It's simply the four conference champs ranked highest by the CFP.

Of course, it would take every single team in the ACC (or B12, it's possible there, too) having three or four losses. The CFP committee members are NOT going to vote a Liberty or Memphis higher than one of the Power 4 champs unless the imbalance is that drastic, a 13-0 versus 9-4 kind of difference.

So it will probably rarely happen. But it could. And I'm guessing the ACC commissioner is suddenly a little more worried about that than he was a week and a half ago. Heh.

Go Vols!

p.s. Here's another interesting question: Does the Pac-2 conference champ, Oregon State or Washington State, count? If they're ranked high enough, could they get one of the top bids by the CFP? Does their conference even count as a conference this year? I don't know. If the CFP have addressed it, I never saw.

 

[DirtyDawg]

Yep, they would. It's simply the four conference champs ranked highest by the CFP.

Of course, it would take every single team in the ACC (or B12, it's possible there, too) having three or four losses. The CFP committee members are NOT going to vote a Liberty or Memphis higher than one of the Power 4 champs unless the imbalance is that drastic, a 13-0 versus 9-4 kind of difference.

So it will probably rarely happen. But it could. And I'm guessing the ACC commissioner is suddenly a little more worried about that than he was a week and a half ago. Heh.

Go Vols!

p.s. Here's another interesting question: Does the Pac-2 conference champ, Oregon State or Washington State, count? If they're ranked high enough, could they get one of the top bids by the CFP? Does their conference even count as a conference this year? I don't know. If the CFP have addressed it, I never saw.

Cool, like I said, I hadn’t even thought of such a scenario. I agree that there would have to be a drastic difference for the committee to allow such a thing to happen.

As far as the PAC 2 is concerned, they are still on their own technically, but they are playing an integrated Mountain West schedule I think. I also think that there is a time limit for them to add new schools (at least 6 new schools) or else they will likely have to join a conference or go independent maybe? I think they have two years to add new schools if they want to remain a conference.

They are not eligible for a top four spot and a bye, but they are eligible for the 7 at large bids in the Playoff.

 

[Extra Point]

I'm fine with this, the longer they keep ignoring the Vols, the hungrier they will become.

Agreed! We’re a top 5 team…just stay tuned.