SEC West Dominates in Week 3 SEC Power Rankings
Saturday Blitz Week 3 SEC Power Rankings
13. Tennessee Volunteers, 2-1 (0-0), Lost to Oklahoma Sooners 34-10 Last Saturday
The Vols were simply caught in the wrong place at the wrong time against Oklahoma on Saturday when they lost in a blowout. The game would have been a lot closer, but the Tennessee offensive line that is loaded with inexperienced freshmen was not going to be able to handle Oklahoma’s front seven. This game was a year away from being much closer. With that in mind, it would seem unfair to put Tennessee next to last in the Week 3 SEC Power Rankings.
But we don’t have a choice.
Although the Vols will likely move up before the year ends, it can’t be ignored that they don’t belong over any undefeated team yet, and they don’t have any major quality wins yet to offset their one bad loss. Arkansas’s victory over Texas Tech is more impressive than Tennessee’s two victories over Utah State and Arkansas State (although both are good mid-major teams), and Kentucky played Florida a lot tougher than Tennessee played Oklahoma, which currently stands as the one loss for each team. Of course, Oklahoma is a lot better than Florida, but the Gators aren’t bad.
Derek Dooley’s epic failures were put on full blast Saturday when his decision to bring in a full class without any offensive linemen showed. It’s the one thing that kept Tennessee from playing that game close and being much higher on this list. Fortunately for them, they’ll have plenty of chances to move up as the season goes on.