One AP Top 25 voter ranked the Alabama Crimson Tide ahead of the Tennessee Vols in the final rankings
The final AP Top 25 rankings for the 2024 season were released on Tuesday and the Tennessee Vols came in at No. 9. Tennessee finished the season ranked higher than the Alabama Crimson Tide for the first time since 2007. Every AP voter except for one had the Volunteers ranked above the Crimson Tide in […]
The final AP Top 25 rankings for the 2024 season were released on Tuesday and the Tennessee Vols came in at No. 9.
Tennessee finished the season ranked higher than the Alabama Crimson Tide for the first time since 2007.
Every AP voter except for one had the Volunteers ranked above the Crimson Tide in the final AP Top 25 poll.
(It turns out that Ichiro coming up one vote short of being a unanimous first-ballot Hall of Famer wasn't the only voting controversy on Tuesday.)
Chris Carlson of the Syracuse Post-Standard was the only AP voter that had Tennessee ranked below Alabama on his final ballot. Carlson ranked the Crimson Tide at No. 13 and he had the Vols at No. 15.
That's a tough one to understand. Alabama finished the season with a 9-4 record after losing to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl. It's the first time the Crimson Tide have failed to win at least 10 games in a season since 2007 (Nick Saban's first season at Alabama).
Tennessee, meanwhile, went 10-3 and reached the College Football Playoff this past season. Two of the Vols' losses came to playoff teams (Ohio State and Georgia) while three of Alabama's losses came to non-playoff teams (Vanderbilt, Michigan, and Oklahoma).
Most importantly, Tennessee beat Alabama head to head in 2024.
There's just no way you can make Carlson's vote make sense. Quite simply, it's a poor vote by Carlson.
It's worth pointing out, by the way, that Carlson covers Syracuse football. And Tennessee opens the 2025 season against Syracuse.
Maybe the Vols can use Carlson's vote as bulletin board material when Tennessee takes on Syracuse in the season-opener in Atlanta next fall.
