Every year I tell myself I’m not going to get upset by some of the ridiculous voting in the AP Top 25 poll. 

Rankings, after all, don’t mean anything. They have no impact on the outcome of any game. They are simply subjective opinions from writers who are mostly looking at box scores. It’s just not feasible to watch every second of every game and get an accurate feel for where each team should be ranked. That’s not throwing shade at anybody. There’s just not enough time in the week to watch every team (though there are some who give it a good effort and are more reliable than others). 

With that said, I saw the AP Top 25 ballot from On3’s Brett McMurphy for Week 2. And I feel myself getting annoyed. It is easily one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen in this young season (and we saw a lot of ridiculous stuff in Week 1). 

Brett McMurphy drops Tennessee after a win while moving Louisville up after a loss

McMurphy has Tennessee falling from No. 20 to No. 21 after the Vols’ 56-9 win over Furman. 

Who, you might ask, is passing the Vols in the top 25?

One of the teams is Louisville, which entered the week ranked at No. 24 before losing to Ole Miss on Sunday. McMurphy has the Cardinals ranked at No. 19, two spots ahead of Tennessee. He also has Houston, which entered the week ranked No. 23, at No. 20 after the Cougars’ 33-20 win over Oregon State.

I guess moving Houston up is not quite as terrible since Tennessee didn’t play great competition in Furman. But I don’t see how you can move Louisville up five spots after a loss and move Tennessee down two spots after a win. It just makes no sense.

Again, rankings are silly. They don’t mean anything. Results don’t always tell the full story of a team. But come on, it’s crazy to move the Vols down after they did what they were supposed to do against Furman.

And it’s not just Tennessee, by the way. Alabama entered the week ranked at No. 13, and McMurphy has the Crimson Tide at No. 14 after a 38-point win over East Carolina. 

So when you see the AP Top 25 poll come out on Tuesday afternoon and there are rankings that don’t make sense, just know it’s because of voters like this.