BuyingTheHeup

Thanks TideNation! I appreciate the feedback. I’m the same way…only know TN sites apart from these. I’ll probably still check in here intermittently, but I’ll let y’all know if I find a good alternative!

I concur, Bayou Tiger. Clemson could make a case after dominating their championship game against UNC tonight (at least at the time I’m writing this)…but their 2 losses and blowout loss to Notre Dame shouldn’t get them in over OSU (who beat Notre Dame).

I think #5 was supposed to read Vandy and not Texas, but otherwise yes, TN pairs up more favorably v. Bama in almost every category this year.

Good to know. Thanks SouthernDawg!

TideNation, do you have any recs for other sites that cover all SEC teams equally, by any chance? All I know are here and Bleacher Report right now, but both have spiraled drastically downhill this year. And I hear ya, TideFan…the constant barrage of ads is so frustrating!

Agreed. TN shouldn’t be in, but that doesn’t mean Alabama should.

I agree with all of this. I think USC’s loss and TCU’s close game took care of everything this weekend. I hate to see two Big 10 teams in the mix, but I hope UGA destroys whichever of the two they face in the playoffs (or possibly both, if OSU is seeded 4th).

Agreed. I personally don’t think the Vols deserve a spot in the playoff after the SC loss and would just put TCU and OSU in the playoff now if up to me…but there’s no way in the world Bama deserves to be ranked above Ohio St, TN, Penn St, or possibly even Clemson (if they win tonight). Each of those teams outshines Bama in certain data points this year (more wins, less losses, more top 25 wins, better wins, better strength of schedule, head-to-head, better record against common opponents, conference championship, etc). Tennessee has at least five of the above superlatives against Bama this year, if you’re counting. My wife’s a die-hard Bama fan and even she agrees Bama’s done nothing of merit this year. Bama could absolutely get hot and win the title if they make the playoff right now (maybe the new South Carolina could as well), but it doesn’t mean they’re deserving of being in the CFP or have done enough, to date, to be considered a top 4 team.

Stetson looked great tonight! I hope he wins it, but I do hope Hooker at least gets the invite as a top 3 contender. I have a hunch Caleb Williams and Max Duggan will be joining Bennett I for the ceremony, though.

I’m okay if it takes Oklahoma a decade and a half to figure it out!

This is random, but I just realized that every P5 team ranked 10th or lower has at least 3 losses. Maybe it’s just memory loss, but I can’t remember a year where only 9 P5 teams had 2 or less losses in a year. In unrelated news, it sure is nice not seeing Oklahoma anywhere NEAR only 2 losses!

Orion wins best word of the day with “Corollary”, btw. Well played!

And I agree Booches. Penn State’s a good team and good very easily be 6th. All semantics at this point.

Yeah, but Bama didn’t dominate too many decent teams this year either, except maybe Arkansas. So TN’s dominant wins against teams like Kentucky and obviously LSU (plus beating more P5 teams overall) looks just as strong. Fans will argue their team’s best strength. Both Bama and TN had equally-tough schedules and dropped a game they shouldn’t have (LSU, SC), so Bama’s argument is better losses and TN’s is better wins. As long as neither team gets in, it’s all semantics, but I think if USC loses, OSU gets the nod…possibly for no other reason than Bama and TN being dead even on paper this year and to save the two states from blowing each other up if one is invited and not the other haha!

I think TCU's in. Even if they get blown out this week, they ran the table in the regular season and already beat the team they're playing. It's hard to beat the same team twice in a year. Besides, if TCU gets blown out (in an extra game), they'll be going against OSU (blown out at home), TN (blown out and has 2 losses) and Bama (2 losses including one to the aforementioned TN). TCU's resume has gotten stronger these past several weeks as well. I think the only game that could honestly affect the playoff pool this weekend is USC-Utah.

I agree with SonoftheSouth. It's not fair, per se, but having Bryce Young v. not having Hooker could definitely work in Bama's favor at this point. I'm hoping UGA, Mich, TCU and USC take care of business this week and close out strong! OSU, TN and Bama do not deserve to be in this year's CFP, in my opinion.

I'm not defending TN's loss to SC, but Bama could've easily folded against TN when they were down 28-10 and had a similar result as the TN-SC game. College football is a game of continuous variables and momentum shifts, which is what makes it so exciting. TN got taken to the woodshed by SC, a team it couldn't stop defensively (without its best defensive player). It gave up and absurd 63 points. Bama struggled to stop TN (with its best defensive player) and gave up an absurd 52 points. The only difference, all things considered, is that when Bama (who couldn't stop UT all night) was down by 18, Bryce Young willed his team back into contention and nearly won Bama the game. Had your backup QB (who struggled against A&M) had to take over, would Bama have come back? TN (who couldn't stop SC all night) was down 18, 49-31...and its very capable QB, Hooker, got hurt AND fumbled on the next drive. Our backup QB (who struggled in 2021), couldn't muster a comeback. I'm not saying TN would've beaten SC regardless, but it very easily could've ended up a 56-49 type game had Hooker stayed healthy...and Bama's loss to UT could have very easily become a blowout had Young reinjured himself. My point is, both Bama and TN were almost identical this year. Both were pretty decent against most teams and are deserving of NY6 bowls, but both laid some eggs on the road when it mattered most and shouldn't be considered for the CFP this year.

I agree with you partially, etcjoe. LSU lost two games early (FSU and UT blowout) before they started playing well under Kelly, so I think fans were optimistically-cautious once they started playing well against Florida and especially Bama. Tennessee got a bit lucky against Pitt and maybe Florida, but otherwise started off hot (especially against LSU). After the Bama win, I think there was a combo of 15-year frustration for faithful Vol fans + overhype by new bandwagon fans (who disappeared after the SC debacle, I hope!). I don't think most reasonable fans thought UT would win it all (especially after getting manhandled by UGA), but there was definite reason for playoff optimism prior to the SC game. Both TN and LSU have a ways to go to keep building upon this year's success in years to come (especially as UGA and Bama likley reload and come back strong next year), but I agree, both teams should be proud of what they accomplished this year and LSU fans did seem to carry that torch better than UT fans as a whole.

I had to do a double-take on that, too, 98. I didn’t think anyone besides Griffin had won multiple Heismans.

I hope Milton’s serviceable this year and next, because Nico definitely looks like he needs to put on some weight to compete weekly in the SEC. And I totally agree about the unexpected with Milton, TideFan. I went back and watched a highlight reel of Milton at Michigan the other day; the reel itself looks fine (like one could of him at UT), but many of the plays showcased showed some incredibly-athletic catches by receivers…on plays featuring shouldn’t have required such athleticism for a completion to be made. I have a feeling many nails will be bitten while Milton plays QB1 for Tennessee.

Well, you got the “blowout” part right, Long Beach Mike…just picked the wrong team haha!

Very true. I’m dreading next week. If Vandy stops the run, I fear it’s gonna’ be all quick outs, deep balls and scrambles. We COULD win with that formula, but I wouldn’t feel confident with that game plan.

I agree, LSUMC, and I always like your posts. At this point, LSU has already had an awesome season and is playing with house money v. expectations. I hope y’all are able to stay strong and competitive (unlike my Vols last night), but unlike Heupel, Kelly has been there before and definitely has LSU’s players locked in. It’s been fun to watch both LSU and TN improve quicker than expected this year!

I had the same thought. I think LSU takes care of business with so much on the line, but this sport tends to bring out chaos in rivalry matchups on the road with one team having nothing to lose (again, see TN @ SC). I hope LSU wins and sets up a better viewing stage for the SECCG, but Jimbo’s not gonna’ wanna’ lose all of his players to the transfer portal, so if he’s smart, he’ll play aggressively. At that point, catch some breaks and anything goes. I think the biggest difference between Jimbo and Beamer (that will work in LSU’s favor) is that players and fans actually like Beamer and are rallying behind him. That does not seem to be the case for A&M.

I agree about TCU. I doubt they get in if they don’t run the table (ie, possible Kansas State loss in the Big-12 championship game), but right now, they’re completely deserving. They’ve won every game close, but they’ve won, and they’ve played well/tough on the road…against an increasingly tougher schedule. Not many Big-12 teams are still ranked, but they were when they played TCU.

Agreed JTF. I think the top 4 stays the same, for now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if USC jumps LSU this week at 5. Unfortunately, I think my Vols’ losss…in THAT fashion, won’t bode well for the Bayou Tigers. As bad as UT’s loss was to SC, and it was bad, LSU still lost worst to that same UT team at home. Its key victories against Bama and Ole Miss look good but not great, as those teams don’t look fantastic this season, and USC’s schedule will keep getting stronger. Clemson’s too. It’s gonna’ be an interesting end to the season, for sure!

I agree with you Candyland. The only people who seem to care about the UT score against Mizzouri are Mizzou and UGA fans, for some reason. TN got hot last week and scored a lot of points (the last two drives with backups in that may now be starters against Vandy given the Hooker injury. A win against Vandy is not guaranteed by any means at this point. TN tried to stop scoring against Florida and nearly lost the game because the team is not built to sustain drives, only to score quickly or bust. Tonight, they busted. Offensively to an extent and definitely on defense. SC got hot and played perhaps their best game in program history. Who cares that they scored 60+ on TN. Let them have their fun, vent their frustrations from earlier losses this season, and celebrate tonight. SC earned it in every facet of the game and didn’t feel like they were running it up at all. Our D may not have stopped SC had they kneeled it on us tonight…just like Mizzou couldn’t stop TN last week.

Agreed, Bear. Well put, on all fronts. On D, as bad as our secondary has been all year, I’ve been equally impressed with Tim Banks’ aggressive play calling…kept us in many games or helped us put away many games earlier in the season against comparable competition to our player talent level (discrediting UGA and Bama, who have better athletes than us right now). I don’t know what happened tonight, but I have a feeling the Omari Thomas and Jeremy Banks absences played a big part of it. Regardless, we got flat-out smoked and outplayed/out coached all-around tonight, but I’m still proud of the Vols’ season YTD. Hopefully we can use tonight as a learning opportunity to mitigate future heartache and remain consistently competitive moving forward.

*next couple of years. Dang autocorrect!

I agree with all of this VFL_88. SC played great, and UT got destroyed tonight. But, after the last 15 years, I still am extremely proud of our Vols and wouldn’t trade this season for anything! Hopefully we’ll build off of this season, get some more depth/experience on D, and bounce back into the expanded playoff mix consistently within the next year ogre years.