Tennessee Vols Josh Heupel dropped some truth that his players need to hear
When the first College Football Playoff rankings of the year are released on Tuesday night, the Tennessee Vols will likely be in the top 12. Tennessee is No. 7 in the latest AP Top 25 poll. While the AP Top 25 poll has nothing to do with playoff rankings, it would still be a surprise […]
When the first College Football Playoff rankings of the year are released on Tuesday night, the Tennessee Vols will likely be in the top 12.
Tennessee is No. 7 in the latest AP Top 25 poll. While the AP Top 25 poll has nothing to do with playoff rankings, it would still be a surprise to see Tennessee at No. 7 in the AP poll but outside of the top 12 in the playoff rankings.
But either way, where the Vols are ranked in the playoff rankings this week doesn't really matter much. All it takes is one bad week and Tennessee could go from a top 10 team to being outside of the top 15.
On Monday, Vols head coach Josh Heupel was asked about the playoff rankings coming out this week and how he'll handle the rankings with his team.
Heupel was quick to point out that the first week of the playoff rankings "don't matter".
“Playoff rankings at this point don’t matter," said Heupel. "You don’t have control over it. What you do have control over is your preparation and how you play. Ultimately, that determines where you’re at or where you’re not at. And for this football team, understanding that we've got to continue to grow and get better and control those things that we’re in control of. And this team has got to continue to get better. So it will be out on Tuesday night. [Do] you remember what the first rankings were last year? I don’t either, right? So it doesn’t matter. What they remember is where you finish here as November wraps up.”
Two years ago, the Vols were ranked No. 1 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings. Losses in November to Georgia and South Carolina, however, knocked the Vols all the way down to No. 6 in the final rankings (which meant they were left out of the four team playoff).
Tennessee knows as well as anyone that the first week of rankings mean nothing. It's nice to be included because it means you're in the mix, but it doesn't guarantee a program anything. The Vols have to continue to take care of business over the next few weeks regardless of where they're ranked, otherwise they could set themselves up for failure.
How Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava showed important leadership after win against Kentucky Wildcats
Important stuff from Nico
