Last week, when Tennessee football came out at No. 18 in the preseason top 25 Coaches Poll, we had an article go up defending the ranking but criticizing certain teams ahead of them, most notably the Florida Gators, Ole Miss Rebels, Michigan Wolverines and SMU Mustangs. Somehow, the AP Poll got even more laughable, though.
UT came in at No. 24 in the AP Poll, six spots below its Coaches Poll Ranking. Every team ahead of the Vols in the Coaches Poll is ahead of them in the AP Pol. The other six teams are the Kansas State Wildcats at No. 17, Oklahoma Sooners at No. 18, Texas A&M Aggies at No. 19, Indiana Hoosiers at No. 20, Iowa State Cyclones at No. 22 and Texas Tech Red Raiders at No. 23.
Let’s not bury the lede, though. How in the world is Oklahoma ahead of Tennessee football? They weren’t even in the top 25 in the Coaches Poll. Sure, the Vols lost a ton of offensive talent, including very publicly their quarterback in Nico Iamaleava from last year, but that shouldn’t drop them from No. 9 to below OU.
Remember, last year, the Vols beat OU 25-15 on the road in a game that wasn’t even that close. OU ended up going 6-7, and Jackson Arnold entered the transfer portal due to ineffective play. There’s no way anybody could look at that team and think they would be better than UT this year.
Even if you’re analyzing based on schedule and projections, OU has a tougher schedule than the Vols this year and has to travel to Neyland Stadium. In what universe should the Vols be behind them after making the College Football Playoff last year? It’s absolutely ridiculous.
Many of the other ones should be criticized too. Kansas State, Iowa State and Texas Tech are all good Big 12 teams who coasted to 10 wins playing in a conference with no legitimate national title contenders last year. Are the Vols seriously behind all of them?
Indiana played the easiest schedule in history last year. They didn’t beat anybody to finish the season in the top 25 and only three teams to reach a bowl game. Based on talent and resume, there’s no way you can look at that and think they are better than UT going into this year.
Voters get a pass with Texas A&M, though. They still have a lot of talent and went 8-5 last year, but it was Mike Elko’s first season. Assuming he had to change the culture from what Jimbo Fisher established, you could see dramatic improvement this year, and there’s at least reason to belief Tennessee football will have a drop-off.
Still, while No. 18 is understandable, No. 24 is ridiculous, and putting OU along with a slew of Big 12 schools and Indiana ahead of the Vols is insane. Resume and talent have to be factors in the polls, and the Vols beat both of them going into this year. Projections can’t have that much weight.
