Final AP Poll

[GTOWNHOG]

We would smoke Marshall and Memphis.

We could barely beat Memphis when Memphis was BAD.  We are 2-3 against them.
Arkansas vs Memphis (TN)

1992 @ Memphis LOST 22-6
1993 @ Little Rock LOST 6-0
1994 @Memphis LOST 16-15
1995 @ Little Rock WON 27-20    SEC West Championship year
1998 @ Memphis   WON 23-9      Nutt's first year.

They had a good team this year.  10-3.  Lost by 7 at UCLA.  They do play in a weaker conference, but they always play Arkansas a tough game. :razorback:

[Dirty]

We could barely beat Memphis when Memphis was BAD.  We are 2-3 against them.
Arkansas vs Memphis (TN)

1992 @ Memphis LOST 22-6
1993 @ Little Rock LOST 6-0
1994 @Memphis LOST 16-15
1995 @ Little Rock WON 27-20    SEC West Championship year
1998 @ Memphis   WON 23-9      Nutt's first year.

They had a good team this year.  10-3.  Lost by 7 at UCLA.  They do play in a weaker conference, but they always play Arkansas a tough game. :razorback:

And Texas has a better record against the hogs!  That help them this past game!

[GTOWNHOG]

And Texas has a better record against the hogs!  That help them this past game!

The OP said we would "SMOKE" Memphis.  Based upon past performance, we have never "SMOKED" Memphis.  I think that the HOGS would beat them, but it would be a tough game. 

[Atlhogfan1]

Wasn't Va Tech pretty good for a long time?

Pretty good especially relative to their competition.  The most overhyped frauds of modern college football though.  They were partially a creation of ESPN as they were willing to play on Th nights just as Boise was later on willing to play on Fri nights.  In turn, ESPN promoted VT.  Their hyperbole over Lane Stadium and their entrance and Bud Foster all made for good Th night tv for football fans. 

[Atlhogfan1]

The OP said we would "SMOKE" Memphis.  Based upon past performance, we have never "SMOKED" Memphis.  I think that the HOGS would beat them, but it would be a tough game.

I think the Hogs of the postseason would have beaten Memphis easily and 1998 or earlier games would have had no affect on it. 

[The Hogfather]

The OP said we would "SMOKE" Memphis.  Based upon past performance, we have never "SMOKED" Memphis.  I think that the HOGS would beat them, but it would be a tough game. 

Ole Miss beat them 24-3 and we beat Ole Miss 30-0.  We'd smoke Memphis.

[Huds_HawgTide]

Did you watch any Memphis games this year? I watched them play 4 games and saw about half a dozen Hog games. It would be a really good game 50/50 chance either team would win.

your joking right...they gave ole miss a tight game and we destroyed ole miss...where is the logic

[flagstaffhog]

Memphis?

[MissippHog]

Did you watch any Memphis games this year? I watched them play 4 games and saw about half a dozen Hog games. It would be a really good game 50/50 chance either team would win.

Insane.  I watched all of the Hog games as well as 4 Tiger games.  We would beat them 9 out of 10 times on the road, at home, or neutral field.  The Tigers are improved but they are still a mediocre team. 

[TheGrove68]

I think you beat Memphis as well but they beat a BYU team that embarrassed Texas 41-7 in Austin,so your bowl win over a verily avg. b12 squad was not the least bit impressive in the minds of the AP voters because BYU was viewed as a better team than Texas by a lot. Add in your over all record in the Sec and the fact the two Sec teams you did beat lost their bowl games well you can't expect much love in the final polls.

Now with that said most know Ark. appears to be making strides and will get a lot of preseason love next year. But this year the body of work in Wins/Losses etc. was lacking.

Myself personally at the end of the season am confident that the Hogs where better than LSU and Ole Miss. and on par with A&M.

[ZERO]

They only look at records.

Apparently not. Auburn is 8-5 with their last game being a loss and they're ranked #22.

[Atlhogfan1]

I think you beat Memphis as well but they beat a BYU team that embarrassed Texas 41-7 in Austin,so your bowl win over a verily avg. b12 squad was not the least bit impressive in the minds of the AP voters because BYU was viewed as a better team than Texas by a lot. Add in your over all record in the Sec and the fact the two Sec teams you did beat lost their bowl games well you can't expect much love in the final polls.

Now with that said most know Ark. appears to be making strides and will get a lot of preseason love next year. But this year the body of work in Wins/Losses etc. was lacking.

Myself personally at the end of the season am confident that the Hogs where better than LSU and Ole Miss. and on par with A&M.

I am confident we were at least on par with A&M in September as well and your Tigers at the end of the season. 

Don't bother with any context. Memphis beat BYU without Taysom Hill 55-48.  BYU beat Texas with Taysom Hill and it was Swoopes first start after Ash's career had been ended the week before.  Texas had won 3 of 4 heading into the bowl.

[ChitownHawg]

I doubt it. Texas was awful. Memphis can play. Most reasonable people were not too impressed with the win over the Down and out Horns.

So you can only be a "reasonable" Hog fan if you walked away from the Texas Bowl not being impressed? Where do you cockroaches come from? Man they just keep crawling out from under the woodwork to take shots at a bowl win for us.

Never seen this many constipated fans in my life.

[ChitownHawg]

We could barely beat Memphis when Memphis was BAD.  We are 2-3 against them.
Arkansas vs Memphis (TN)

1992 @ Memphis LOST 22-6
1993 @ Little Rock LOST 6-0
1994 @Memphis LOST 16-15
1995 @ Little Rock WON 27-20    SEC West Championship year
1998 @ Memphis   WON 23-9      Nutt's first year.

They had a good team this year.  10-3.  Lost by 7 at UCLA.  They do play in a weaker conference, but they always play Arkansas a tough game. :razorback:

How many of our players and coaches were on the '98 team? 

[Hogarusa]

your joking right...they gave ole miss a tight game and we destroyed ole miss...where is the logic

That's actually poor logic as well.

Who care what the score of Memphis/Arkansas would be.  When you are 6-6 heading into bowl season, a win over another 6-6 team doesn't usually vault you into the rankings so I am not sure what the surprise is about.

I keep reading other threads that tell me people make too much of bowl results (due to SEC getting beat).  It gets confusing

[mizzouman]

I think there's a typo/mistake in that AP poll.  I didn't see Oklahoma anywhere in that season ending Top 25.

The typo is no Notre Dame.

[mizzouman]

I'm not sure we deserve to be ranked and haven't really given it a thought.  However, if our name were Auburn, I bet we'd be ranked right now.

Not sure a 7-6 Auburn team would be ranked.

[mizzouman]

Ole Miss beat them 24-3 and we beat Ole Miss 30-0.  We'd smoke Memphis.

Logic makes no sense. 

[mizzouman]

Memphis had a great year for them.  Can they beat Arkansas?  Yes, on any given Saturday.  But, in a World Series format, Arkansas goes 4-1.

[dagnamit]

I am confident we were at least on par with A&M in September as well and your Tigers at the end of the season. 

Don't bother with any context. Memphis beat BYU without Taysom Hill 55-48.  BYU beat Texas with Taysom Hill and it was Swoopes first start after Ash's career had been ended the week before.  Texas had won 3 of 4 heading into the bowl.

Treadwell - No Treadwell - Works both ways.

Swoopes was much better his first game than his last. The guy died on the vine.

[popcornhog]

Any of those teams 15-25 I think we beat at home or on a neutral field.  Could beat most of them on the road.  Next year I believe we finally get the respect we deserve.

I don't completely disagree, but I do not think that a 7-6 team has ever been ranked, regardless of SOS, if so it's incredibly rare.

One more win and we'd have been ranked though. Bama, Mizzou, State, A&M -- all within grasp, but they were losses unfortunately.

[dagnamit]

The typo is no Notre Dame.

yes

[HogBreath]

Ole Miss at #17 is a joke.

You know Ole Miss is really good...losing to us 30-0, then getting wiped off the field by TCU.. 75-3, yet they are still a top team. lol

[popcornhog]

You know Ole Miss is really good...losing to us 30-0, then getting wiped off the field by TCU.. 75-3, yet they are still a top team. lol

That's because the rankings are based on all 13 games, not just the bad ones.

They sucked down the stretch, but we're very good earlier in the season pre-injuries. It goes to their lack of depth.

[EastexHawg]

I'm not sure we deserve to be ranked and haven't really given it a thought.  However, if our name were Auburn, I bet we'd be ranked right now.

No, we wouldn't.  I can't find evidence of a single six loss team ever being ranked.  It certainly hasn't happened in the last 15 years.

In the last ten years, only four five loss teams have been ranked:

2005 Florida State 8-5...#23
2009 Clemson 9-5...#24
2010 South Carolina 9-5...#22
2012 Michigan 8-5...#24

Florida State won the ACC title in 2005, beating #5 Virginia Tech in the championship game.  They lost to Penn State in the Orange Bowl.

Clemson won their division of the ACC in 2009, going 6-2 in conference.  They lost the ACC Championship Game to Georgia Tech.

South Carolina won the SEC East in 2010.  Two of their losses were to national champ Auburn, one was to the Arkansas team that played in the Sugar Bowl, and one was to ten win Florida State in the Peach (Chick-fil-A) bowl.

Michigan went 6-2 in the Big 10 in 2012.  In non-conference games they lost to the two teams that played in the BCSNCG...Alabama and Notre Dame.  They also lost to 26-21 to undefeated Ohio State.  They lost their bowl game 33-28 to #8 South Carolina.

No team with six losses...or that went 2-6 in its conference...is going to end the season ranked.  It wouldn't matter if we were Notre Dame, Ohio State, or USC, or if we played in the NFC West.  Six losses are going to keep anyone from being ranked.

[Hogarusa]

You know Ole Miss is really good...losing to us 30-0, then getting wiped off the field by TCU.. 75-3, yet they are still a top team. lol

...Because that's how the rankings work.  Ignore their wins vs Bama, Ms. state, Boise State, Memphis, A&M, and Tennessee.  Makes plenty of sense

[Inhogswetrust]

We could barely beat Memphis when Memphis was BAD.  We are 2-3 against them.
Arkansas vs Memphis (TN)

1992 @ Memphis LOST 22-6
1993 @ Little Rock LOST 6-0
1994 @Memphis LOST 16-15
1995 @ Little Rock WON 27-20    SEC West Championship year
1998 @ Memphis   WON 23-9      Nutt's first year.

They had a good team this year.  10-3.  Lost by 7 at UCLA.  They do play in a weaker conference, but they always play Arkansas a tough game. :razorback:

Last time I checked NONE of the players or coaches we have now were with us any of those years...............................Yes they've played us tough....They usually play all SEC teams tough.

[arlhog]

I too believe we are better than some of those teams, but we are 7-6.  Every team on that list had a better record and that's the MAIN thing the voters look at.  Our schedule was brutal and we could have easily won more games but we didn't, plain and simple, we didn't get it done.  We gotta live with it and try to improve next year.  That starts now by finishing out our recruiting.   That's all the staff can do now to improve.  They can't improve last year's record or change the media's votes. 

[TheGrove68]

I am confident we were at least on par with A&M in September as well and your Tigers at the end of the season. 

Don't bother with any context. Memphis beat BYU without Taysom Hill 55-48.  BYU beat Texas with Taysom Hill and it was Swoopes first start after Ash's career had been ended the week before.  Texas had won 3 of 4 heading into the bowl.

I don't disagree Ark. and Mizzou was on par.....The context narrative means little once the Win/Loss record is put on paper....every team has tells of Woes and most are legit but at the end of the day voters have to vote and if you win more than lose your ranking will be higher.

[gmarv]

so the cut of to getting ranked is 5 losses regardless of any other factors,is that how its done?

[hogcard1964]

so the cut of to getting ranked is 5 losses regardless of any other factors,is that how its done?

I guess so.  (LOL)

[jbcarol]

http://collegepolltracker.com/football/team/ua2/2014

Here's who voted for the Hogs:

Brett McMurphy: ESPN national college football writer; weekly bowl game projection
Ross Dellenger: LSU beat
Tom Murphy: ADG
Joey Knight: Covers USF
Kirk Bohls: Longtime Austin columnist covers Tejas

[TheGrove68]

I'm sure each voter has a different Loss cut....or Win total cut....but nobody is overly impressed with a squad who is 7-6. If Vandy or Kentucky had went 7-6 only won 2 conference games and beat a avg. TX team none of the hog faithful would think twice about them not being ranked.

[mizzouman]

I don't disagree Ark. and Mizzou was on par.....The context narrative means little once the Win/Loss record is put on paper....every team has tells of Woes and most are legit but at the end of the day voters have to vote and if you win more than lose your ranking will be higher.

What makes you think that Mizzou and Ark were on par this past year?

[Darren DeLoach]

Memphis had a great year for them.  Can they beat Arkansas?  Yes, on any given Saturday.  But, in a World Series format, Arkansas goes 4-1.

I don't think we should be ranked, but if we played Memphis in a 7 game series 10 times consecutive, they may beat us 2. Maybe. Our physicality and defense is too much for a lower level team.

But the top 25 is not about forecasting who would win in imaginary head to heads...

[EastexHawg]

If ever the final AP poll is released and a 7-6 Notre Dame or Texas squad is among the ranked teams I am going to knock over lamps and coffee tables trying to get to my computer so I can log on and read the comments on this site.  'Twould be fascinating.

We weren't ranked in 2002 when we went 9-3 and won the SEC West before losing the SECCG and our bowl game.  If we weren't ranked then we're not going to be ranked after going 7-6 and 2-6 in conference.  It's just reality that six loss teams don't finish in the Top 25.