The Tennessee Volunteers finally got a bit more respect on Sunday, as they jumped up notably in both the AP and Coaches poll after steamrolling ETSU 72-17 on Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee moved up to 15 in both the polls, up 2 spots in the Coaches Poll but up 7 in the AP Poll, which is quite the jump in the latter.
Naturally, with Georgia coming to town on Saturday, the tin foil hatters may point to giving the Vols some flowers so the matchup looks better. But I always say to that,
“the voters don’t work for the network, do they?” So it likely is just a show of respect after the Vols’ offense was dominant for a second straight week.
Unless you’re two members of the AP Poll voting public, it appears. Steven Means of Cleveland.com and Aaron McCann of MLive Media Group both excluded the Vols from the top 25 in their ballots.
No, the AP Poll doesn’t ultimately matter (I’ve written this ad nauseum), but what’s fair is fair, and the Vols should unquestionably be not just ranked, but be up there a good bit in the polls. Means has Arizona State and Georgia Tech on his ballot. McCann has Mississippi State, Arizona State, and Nebraska in there.
Fortunately, the Vols will write their own story on Saturday afternoon against Georgia, who they face in Neyland Stadium at 3:30 pm ET in a top-15 matchup. The eyes of the nation will be there, with College Gameday in attendance. There’s no bigger opportunity to make a statement than then.
But the voting here just shows the silliness of some voters in their ballots, and that silliness should be outed publicly from time to time.
