… They were even lower in my ranking till I moved them up. :-)

Tennessee is not the third best team in the SEC. That is a fact that I consider indisputable. Their record removes all doubt.

How do you put 5-4 UT with only two SEC wins above others with better records both in the league and overall?

You give absolutely zero, bupkis, nada justification as to why UT should be higher.

As to MSU, their record isn’t as good as UK’s. Also, they got crushed by Auburn (a team UK beat), and barely defeated Vanderbilt. In other words, they’ve beaten nobody. UK has.

… again, I disagree.

But fourth best is a lot more defensible than third best, even though you’d have to elevate them over a team that not only beat them, but has a better overall record (Auburn) and a better conference record.

… but until they beat somebody not slumping or named Vanderbilt, you won’t see me singing their praises.

… first of all, thanks for the praise. :-)

Second, here’s how I get this — Tennessee has not shown me that they can beat an SEC team not in the middle of a slump, or just plain weak. They lost at home to UCLA, a team that has no business coming into an SEC stadium and walking away with a win. Tennessee just had a coaching change.

I am skeptical of teams who right themselves mid-season. Show me consistency. If UT takes out Ole Miss in Oxford next weekend, I will become a believer. Right now, I am a skeptic. Consistency is what matters, and UT’s defense has been the only constant they have. Their offense is unbalanced and erratic, their quarterback, despite his recent success, has a history of throwing balls to opponents in big games.

In other words, it takes more than a couple of wins over less than stellar competition and a few close losses to convince me that this team is worthy of a higher ranking. So their offense was decent two games in a row – so what? We saw that from South Carolina, but what happened to them?

Two games in a row do not make a trend.

… whatever.

We will agree to disagree.

Your claim that Kiffin has accomplished as much in year one as Fulmer did in a decade is … at best, irrational hyperbole. How many SEC East titles has Kiffin & Co. won, again?

For the record, Fulmer’s teams won or tied for the SEC East title 7 times, won the SEC outright twice, and has a Mythical National Championship. Did Kiffin do more than that in his first year, which, by the way, isn’t even over yet? If so, he is dramatically underpaid.

Teams have injuries, bad days, and any number of things that make a head-to-head matchup a poor criteria on which to base where a team should be placed.

I have never subscribed to that theory, right or wrong.

As to your second point, there is a thoughtful piece over at Wildcats Thunder that will be up in the news post around 3:00 today which you should read. I think that the author makes some fine arguments about what the staff needs, and what should be done, if anything.

Who knew?