‘AP Poll Is Pretty Much Meaningless Now,’ ‘Duke Disrespect Continues’ — CFB Fans React to Surprises in Latest Top-25 Ranking

Three 7-2 SEC teams hold back-to-back spots in the new AP Top 25. The poll came out Sunday after Week 10, and it has the Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 7, Texas Longhorns at No. 8, and Tennessee Volunteers at No. 9.

Texas beat Tennessee in September and is one spot above the Vols. Alabama lost to Tennessee in October but is still two spots ahead of them, and that difference drew complaints. Meanwhile, Duke’s absence from the top seven, LSU hanging on at No. 24, and Notre Dame’s rise to No. 3 also ruffled some feathers.

Tennessee’s October Win Over Alabama Anchors College Football AP Poll

Tennessee beat Alabama 26-10 at Neyland Stadium on October 17. The Vols forced four turnovers against the then-No. 6 Crimson Tide and held Alabama to 201 total yards.

Texas beat the Vols in the same stadium three weeks earlier, winning 20-17 on September 26 while ranked No. 1. College football analyst Clay Travis argued that Tennessee should be ahead of Alabama.

“Texas is ranked above Tennessee because the Longhorns won head to head and have the same record. Same logic should apply for Alabama being ranked beneath Tennessee, but of course it isn’t. Should be Texas, Vols, Bama,” he wrote.

Texas and Alabama don’t meet in the regular season. The Longhorns’ 34-20 win at Missouri on Saturday was their sixth straight over an AP Top 25 opponent.

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The three resumes also differ in other ways. Alabama is 5-2 in SEC play, while Tennessee and Texas are each 4-2.

Alabama’s other loss was 20-17 at home to Georgia, the new No. 1. Tennessee’s other loss was 27-24 at South Carolina, now No. 20. The Tide moved up two spots from No. 9 after a 31-13 win at LSU on Saturday.

The AP gives its 69 voters wide leeway, though its guidelines ask them to weigh head-to-head results. AP Top 25 voter Javon Edmonds, explaining his own ballot in the AP’s poll coverage, brought in the SEC as well.

“This felt like a week of three-team tiebreakers. Notre Dame/Utah/BYU and Alabama/Kentucky/Tennessee were the two scenarios I cared about the most,” Edmonds wrote.

Kentucky, now No. 13 at 7-2, lost to both of the other teams in that group. Alabama beat the Wildcats 45-17 on September 12. Tennessee beat them 34-6 on Saturday, and that win moved the Vols up seven spots from No. 16.

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Edmonds went on to write that “the resume has to matter right now, and there’s no point in playing the games if head-to-head doesn’t matter.” He made that point while explaining why he has Utah at No. 2 and Notre Dame at No. 3, and he did not say where he placed the Tide or the Vols.

Pro Football Network’s College Football Playoff Meter gives Alabama a 99.9% chance of making the playoff, Texas 97.8%, and Tennessee 74.1%.

Duke’s Absence and LSU’s No. 24 Spot Draw Other Poll Reactions

Duke is 7-2 after a 41-3 win at NC State on Saturday, but the Blue Devils are only listed among the teams receiving votes. SMU, another 7-2 ACC team, entered the poll at No. 25.

“The Duke disrespect continues…good,” one influencer wrote.

Duke lost two games by a combined seven points. It fell 28-25 at Georgia Tech on Oct. 10 and 24-20 at home to North Carolina a week later.

Neither Georgia Tech nor North Carolina is ranked or receiving votes in the new poll. The Blue Devils get their next chance to move the needle Saturday at No. 5 Miami.

One fan asked the question directly: “What does Duke have to do to be ranked?”

LSU stayed in the poll with a 6-3 record. The Tigers dropped nine spots to No. 24 after Saturday’s loss to Alabama. They led 13-10 in the third quarter before the Tide scored the final 21 points.

College football analyst Michael Cauble reacted to where the Tigers ended up: “LSU hangs in there. Not sure how.”

Another fan was blunter.

“There is zero reason LSU should be ranked. They have beaten nobody. Zero good wins. ZERO,” they wrote.

Near the top, Notre Dame moved up one spot to No. 3 after a 31-24 win over then-No. 1 Miami. After the poll came out, another fan wrote: “AP poll is pretty much meaningless now. Irish at #3 though.”

J.D. PicKell, an On3 college football analyst, posted a reaction to the new rankings that simply said, “You can’t hurt me anymore.”

Alabama, Texas, and Tennessee each have three regular-season games left, and LSU plays two of them. The Tigers host Texas on Saturday and play at Tennessee on November 21.

This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.