Tennessee is ranked 18th in USA Today’/coaches preseason poll announced Friday.
The nation’s college football coaches voted Georgia No. 1.
The Associated Press preseason poll will be released on Aug. 16.
Georgia’s previous highest preseason ranking in a major poll was No. 2 by the AP in 1942.
Coach Mark Richt said in the era of the Bowl Championship Series rankings, this poll carries more significance “since it’s one-third of the formula to decide who plays in the national championship game.”
The coaches ranked Southern Cal, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Florida, and LSU, Missouri, West Virginia, Clemson, and Texas behind Georgia.
The Top 25 teams in the USA Today college football coaches preseason poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2007 records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and final ranking:
;Record;Pts;Pvs
1. Georgia (22);11-2;1,438;3
2. USC (14);11-2;1,430;2
3. Ohio State (14);11-2;1,392;4
4. Oklahoma (3);11-3;1,329;8
5. Florida (5);9-4;1,293;16
6. LSU (3);12-2;1,163;1
7. Missouri;12-2;1,143;5
8. West Virginia;11-2;1,008;6
9. Clemson;9-4;999;22
10. Texas;10-3;979;10
11. Auburn;9-4;888;t14
12. Wisconsin;9-4;747;21
13. Kansas;12-1;714;7
14. Texas Tech;9-4;644;23
15. Virginia Tech;11-3;568;9
16. Arizona State;10-3;560;13
17. Brigham Young;11-2;547;t14
18. Tennessee;10-4;506;12
19. Illinois;9-4;422;18
20. Oregon;9-4;399;24
21. South Florida;9-4;350;NR
22. Penn State;9-4;313;25
23. Wake Forest;9-4;203;NR
24. Michigan;9-4;112;19
25. Fresno State;9-4;91;NR
Others Receiving Votes: Alabama 83, South Carolina 64, Utah 60, Rutgers 53, Florida State 53, Boston College 47, California 41, Pittsburgh 34, Boise State 25, Oregon State 23, Nebraska 17, Cincinnati 13, Virginia 12, Connecticut 9, Michigan State 9, Mississippi State 6, Kentucky 5, Notre Dame 5, TCU 5, Maryland 4, Texas A&M 3, UCLA 3, North Carolina 3, Louisville 2, Georgia Tech 2, UCF 2, Tulsa 1, Oklahoma State 1, Arizona 1, Colorado 1.
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Comments » 142
vol88 writes:
nowhere to go but up. hopefully!
vol88 writes:
where is the mighty tide???
lomas98 writes:
Its all about where you start the season unfortunately with the BCS system. Unless you go undefeated for most games like Kansas and MIssouri did last year. GA can lose 2 games and still be in a position to be in the top 12. UT can lose 2 games to FL and Auburn and be out of the poll all together. This is why no preseason rankings should come out until after the first month.
utduke writes:
BYU? please
HellBornElfChild writes:
I think we are a top 13 team without a doubt
Jamey1210 writes:
We all love the rankings but we also know they mean nothing until December. Who care lets go play some football. "It is FOOTBALLL TIME IN TENNESSEEEEEEE"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bass_Vol_1998 writes:
I think this is a pretty fair ranking (there are few above us that don't really deserve it). With a few wins we will crack the top 10- and have a massive october showdown against UGA. If they are still undefeated.
Bass_Vol_1998 writes:
No FSU, Miami, or Nebraska... what is the world coming to.
I also think Michigan will exceed expectations.
Silent_Fulmer writes:
18th? WOW, if we have a good year we might be within 10-20 spots of the basketball team! wooohoooo!!!!!!!
Sheepscape writes:
Sounds about right, but these polls are pretty flimsy until the season really gets going.
99gator writes:
here is a link to the football schedules for the entire country. just click on the bottom for whatever conference you want to look at.
http://www.bevosports.com/?dl=2008_he...
pdhuff#552644 writes:
They are educated guesses, but I would surmise 18th would reflect a thorough coaching job.
Real roadblocks out there.
30 days or so, it will unfold. We can hope.
pf_fan writes:
Don't really see how Auburn, Wisconsin, and BYU are ranked higher than us. UGA @ #1 is a joke.
THE_VOL writes:
Must be a REALLY down year in CFB!
CoverOrange writes:
Because Clawson and Crompton are huge unknowns. The coaches (or actually some lowly assistant) are hedging their bets.
99G, thanks for the link. A friend of mine gave me a copy of that a few years ago and I've wondering where to get ever since. You do have some usefulness on this board. ;)
orangebloodgmc writes:
One of my favorite things about college football: underdogs dishing out upsets, pretty much every single week.
volroadwarrior writes:
st98
Unfortunately you are right. That's how USC and Ohio State maintain their high rankings. The people voting want to be proven right. Georgia is probably a good team, but not #1. They will probably lose at least 2 games this year and maybe 3. USC and Ohio State will have clear sailing for the year and will battle it out for number one until the NC game.
agentorange writes:
i can't wait to throttle UGA at UGA. hope they can stay #1 until then.
tnbanker_govols writes:
These preseason polls are worthless. I don't see how GA is ranked first considering how big of a flop they were last year. South Forida, BYU.....I don't know which is worse...Ga #1 or BYU????
99gator writes:
12-2 with a bcs bowl berth, bcs bowl win, and a final ranking of #2 is a........flop?
volinexile writes:
I think that 15-18 is fair to start off. I'm completely shocked that LSU is so high. They've got much bigger concerns than we do (granted their talent is probably a little better). I guess time will be the best indicator.
bowerst#242774 writes:
The SEC has 8 teams that year in and year out are in the top 35 or 40. Big Ten, Big 12 and PAC 10: maybe 3 teams each. Georgia will have to be the best team in the past decade to get through their schedule with one loss.
Probably another year SEC beats itself to death and USC or Ohio State gets to the title game without breaking a sweat. Nobody said life was fair.
mdvol writes:
Sorry Georgia.....kiss of death! No Notre Dame....Amazing! Have fun Jimmy C.
Tenn_Dawg writes:
I agree with the theory that polls should not come out until the first week of August. With this poll I would say UGA should be around #5 but not #1. Way too much hype & pressure. UT should be between #10 and #15 lets say #12. Auburn has more question marks than UT with two new coordinators (defense and offense) yet they are ranked higher???
VolFanInAtl writes:
agentorange - amen brother
I bet Mark Richt is starting to feel like General Custer.
sjt18, 9:57 a.m. - polls can also bolster mediocre teams. LSU 2007, case in point
byobbio writes:
D.T. Shackelford commits to Tennessee. You heard it here first.
http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&...
jhayes1911 writes:
Everyone I know this is a football post, but since it's hot right now check out this article about the pending investigation on Calipari and the Tigers...
http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/83...
IBleedOrange444 writes:
Yeah, Wisconsin and BYU being ahead of us is down right comical. What happened the last time Wisconsim took the field? Who the heck is BYU?
VolCane7979 writes:
Yep, these are exciting times, but I can't help but also look forward to the start of basketball season. Great time to be a Vol.
BigMix writes:
I wonder how Florida gets the ranking after their year got worse the further along it went? If Tennessee would have went 9-4 we would have been ranked 25 or worse.
bobbarbilly writes:
I guess if the Bulldawgs can go to the Sugar Bowl and whump the Rainbows 41-3 it is a premediated, precurser to the premature,prenomination in preseason rankings.
DennisVols writes:
Being ranked 18th shows how doomed this program is. No way should any UT football team ever be ranked out of the top 3 in the nation. How can we continue to allow failure to be our goal. All the off field problems shows how out of control this team is. We need a coach like Richt, Miles or Saban who would never allow a player on their team to have trouble with drugs or booze because they always kick those players off the team and never think about reducing a supension just because a player is important to a win.
NOW that I have got the SARCASUM out of the way. We started out '98 outside of the top 10 and with a schedule that includes playing 3 of the top 11 teams in this poll the opportunity to finish at the top. No way GA holds on with their schedule I just hope they are still undefeated when we roll into Athens and beat them. The opportunity is there for UT this year and the talent to succeed.
GO Vols
murrayvol writes:
jhayes: I'm sure this amounts to no more than a simple misunderstanding that will be resolved once the facts are known.
Bronczek was probably following up on a package tracking question. :)
99gator writes:
let me play devil's advocate here.....
first, remember that i am putting more thought into this than most put into their ballot for a preseason poll.
but, i actually think the #18 ranking is a sign of respect for the program at tennessee.
you play at auburn, at georgia, at south carolina, at ucla, and two other games against teams that took tennessee behind the woodshed in 2007.
you lost a 4 year starter at qb and a top ten draft pick at mlb. usually, the qb is the leader of the offense and the mlb is the leader of the defense.
usually graduating a qb, drops you about five spots in a preseason poll unless you are absolutely loaded everywhere else.
keep in mind, a five to eight spot difference in rank can come down to one game.
rbut5252#220065 writes:
5 of the top 20 teams from the SEC? 3 of the top 20 from the SEC East? Nobody ever said it'd be easy fellas. I like where we are and like what we have. Let's line up and put a whuppin on all of 'em.
99gator writes:
FYI
not only is miami not ranked.....but, they did not receive a single vote.
dlobh writes:
We're ranked #18 because we're in the SEC and there are 4 teams considered (and, as of now, rightly so) better than us. GA, as 99 said, finished 12-2 and #2 in the country. I still don't see Stafford leading them to a national championship. He'll goof up somewhere. LSU just won the title, and Florida is loaded, including the returning Heisman trophy winner. I also don't have a problem with Auburn being ranked ahead of us. We need to beat a couple of them to earn a higher rank. Right now, #5 in the SEC means about #18 in the country.
BTW, I like 99 (he's welcome here) and I hate McFish, but that's just my opinion . . .
murrayvol writes:
And now back to the article.
Should the first polls come out later i.e. October when the first BCS poll is released?
A) Yes
B) No
C) Not Sure
D) Don't understand the question
I would say yes but they generate too much buzz to do so. One thing that should happen is the coaches poll vote should be made PUBLIC from day one (AP does it) so we'll know how the asst. coach or SID is ranking the teams.
99gator writes:
all you need to know in a comparison of leagues.....
in the sec, the third highest ranked team preseason is lsu at #6.
in the acc, the third highest ranked team preason is wake forest at #23.
if clemson or anyone else in that league goes undefeated, a one loss sec team better get the nod over the acc champ.
VolFanNC writes:
Doesn't mean too much to me yet. Given uncertainty at QB, new offense and brutul front loaded schedule being ranked somewhere from 15-20 is reasonable....
Besides if we beat UCLA, Florida, Georgia and Auburn, we are top 2. Win 3 out of those 4 and Tennesee is top 10...lose 2 and still top 25....main point is there is a lot of uncertainty that can be answered in the first 5 weeks.
On a different note, D.T. Shackelford just committed, does anyone know anything about him?
99gator writes:
another thing.....
three sec teams received votes to be ranked #1.
i don't think anyone has to worry about the SEC getting the proper respect as the best league in the land.
nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:
Man, and I voted Alabama for another national championship! I didn't know they had to actually play games!
bobbarbilly writes:
I would rather be ranked back in the poles this early with the opportunity to climb rather than to be on the top like King Kong sitting on top of the Empire State Building swatting at all those trying to creep up on him.
Homer writes:
What was UT ranked going into the '98 championship season?
nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:
Stafford has never spread the butter on my toast.
Year 1: "Well Georgia fans, you wanted to see Stafford and you're going to get your chance early."
Result: TN sent the children to bed early.
Year 2: "Stafford's got a big arm and he's a prototypical passer"
Result: TN, like a cat with a dead mole, got tired of playing with GA and let them score a few points near the end of the game.
Is Stafford really worth a fart in the stiff breeze or is it all hype? I haven't seen him play cause I'm livin' in Asia.
orangebloodgmc writes:
Hey Kaplan, I have an old clipping from KNS on the eve of the '98 season (it highlighted all the losses and questions we had going into that season) ... would KNS object to my scanning it and posting a link to where folks could read it?
nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:
orangebloodgmc,
Should be nothing wrong with that. We can post youtube links to the smurfs and Alabama news for Crikeys sake! Post it my man!
Homer writes:
On the web I found one site that had the Vols consensus #10 in '98. Some polls had them as low as #16. These preseason polls are worthless, but they're fun.
BigMix writes:
Orangeblood, Kaplan has been sent down to Sally Beauty Supply to get some hair spray for John.
SeanJean writes:
Yeah I remember UT starting 98 around 10 or 11. Not quite 18, but preseason polls are worthless as everyone has said. With our schedule and exposure, if we take care of business, we're fine. It's just that whole taking care of business part we've had trouble with in recent years.
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