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The 2025 college football season has been bizarre, to say the least. There are few elite teams, many middle-tier ones, and historically lower-tier programs like the Vanderbilt Commodores have surprisingly jumped into the top-10. But one thing has remained consistent; the AP Poll continues to reward SEC teams for playing in the SEC. One of the most obvious examples through the first half of the season was the LSU Tigers. LSU was consistently overrated, starting with the preseason poll. They were then rewarded by the inevitable inertia of poll voters, as their resume looked less and less impressive as the weeks went on. RELATED: How Many Spots Will LSU Move Up In AP Poll After Losing To Vanderbilt? It wasn't until the Tigers lost to Vanderbilt, a game that cost Brian Kelly his job, that voters finally moved them out of the top 25. The next team to take up the LSU mantle? The Tennessee Volunteers. Tennessee Volunteers Take Over For LSU In AP Poll Tennessee has perfectly exemplified the "quality loss" mantra, while avoiding any of the "quality wins" that typically matter in the rankings. Their wins this season are over Syracuse, UAB, Mississippi State, Arkansas and Kentucky. The win over the Razorbacks was just three points, despite the game being played in Knoxville. Mississippi State was a one-possession game, 41-34. The combined conference record of the five teams that they've beaten is 1-17. That's correct, Syracuse, UAB, MSU, Arkansas and Kentucky have won just one game in their respective conferences. Other than those wins, Tennessee lost a close game at home to the Georgia Bulldogs, and was thoroughly dominated by the Alabama Crimson Tide 37-20. 5-2, with nothing that could even be remotely considered a quality win, and two losses in the only difficult games. That's the #14 team in the country, per the AP Poll. It's a team that would be on the fringe of the College Football Playoff, were that poll to mirror the AP. There's an objective measurement to this too. While there are numerous ways to measure or rank teams based on resume, even just one is enough to demonstrate how fortunate Tennessee is getting. Per ESPN's SP+, the Volunteers' resume ranks 25th, just behind Navy and ahead of Missouri. Tennessee is ranked 14th, Missouri is ranked 19th in the AP Poll. This is how it works. Preseason expectations and conference affiliation matter the most. Program reputation matters. Crowd size and fan support matters. It shouldn't.
