A little added motivation for the boys

[TitanTiger 20,472]

Joe Biddle, the sports writer for The Tennessean here in Nashville prints his AP ballot each week. Here are some notables:

#10 Tennessee

#11 LSU

#13 Utah

#14 Auburn

Now help me out...UT and Auburn are both undefeated. Auburn beat a top 5 team (at the time) team at home. UT beat a top 10 team (at the time) at home. Both are 2-0 in conference play. But you put the Vols in the top 10 and the team they beat isn't ranked in the top 15. But Auburn is #14 while the team they beat is three slots ahead of them? What kind of hairbrained logic is that? What has UT done to deserve a top 10 slot that Auburn hasn't?

TU21, let the guys know that the Tennessee sportswriters apparently don't think much of them.

[woods1110 0]

Yeah, get them fired up! I know I am!

[bammanmr 0]

Living in the nashville area for 30 years, I learned one thing for sure.... Joe Biddle is the middle Tennessee version of paul finebaum. He knows little about football other than what goes on in knoxville. Somehow or another he has managed to keep a high-profile job even though he sticks his foot in his mouth 3-4 times a week with misquotes, wrong facts or stupid comments. He is about the only thing that I don't miss about living there.

To put it simply, he is a boob.

[TitanTiger 20,472]

Well, I wouldn't call him a boob. I haven't seen the Finebaum in him. I just think he's been drinking the Big Orange kool-aid a little too long. I mean, I can understand ranking UT a spot ahead of Auburn or vice versa. Until Saturday night, it's hard to say. Which is why one poll has us ahead and the other has UT ahead. But 4 spots lower than UT and 3 spots lower than LSU? The same LSU that didn't sniff FG range, much less the redzone for the last 2 1/2 quarters of the game? That team we beat? Give me a break.

[Duder 238]

I can live with the Tennessee ranking, but, wouldn't you think AU beating LSU would qualify us to be ranked higher than them?

[AUHansel 0]

who cares...the only thing that matters is that we are undefeated and have a two game lead over LSU in the West!

[TigerinBham 1]

My brother lives in Nashville. That is the WORST excuse of a Sports section that I have ever seen. Winning the game will take care of that and I hope that TT shares that with the team.

[sportwareagle 0]

I hope that the coaches are concentrating on more than just that article and hopefully the writer won't have anymore questions about who needs to be ranked where after this weekend!

[AubieMan 0]

I lived in Nashville for 2 VERY LONG years! AU has never gotten any respect from that area. If we play like we are capable, all the grumbling from Nashvegas wont matter one bit.

WDE!!!!

[TexasLSUTiger 0]

At this point in the season rankings really mean little, the reason being is AZ State who flat out hammered Iowa was not even ranked after its victory while Iowa was still ranked. AZ state just broke the top 25. USC is still ranked #1 tells me the rankings are a fraud, they almost lost to Stanford, a team I believe was 2-9 over its last 11 games.

OU in my opinion would hang half a hunded on USC as would Auburn, UGA and I still think LSU would still beat them, soundly as would most the SEC, anyway I digress..

The fact is its a bit early still to start accuratly rating teams. Bottom line if Auburn beats UT they are a legit top 5 team, then beat UGA and Auburn is a top 3 team, should be top 2 behind OU...

So if Auburn continues to handle its business what you were ranked this early in the season means little. Remember LSU lost to UF and still won the National title, so its really early.....

In short, the media is full of idiots, always have been.

[swensks 0]

I'm not sure why everyone is so PO'ed about the rankings thus far. As TexasLSUTiger has astutely pointed out, they mean little in the first 6 weeks of the season.

On top of that, Auburn has traditionally played poorly when ranked and favored to beat a ranked opponent. I'd rather us be ranked in the lower half of the poll and have our players get fired up about the press's dislike for Auburn.

I'm in no hurry to jump into the top 5 this early in the season. It will only serve to inflate the egos of the players and coaches and paint a giant target on our heads for every team we face for the rest of the season.