College Football News has the Tennessee Volunteers ranked No. 9 in its Pre-preseason poll. Here’s how the Vols’ 2006 opponents stack up in the same poll:

• California — No. 12
• Air Force — No. 89
• Florida — No. 2
• Marshall — No. 88
• Memphis — No. 73
• Georgia — No. 21
• Alabama — No. 20
• South Carolina — No. 35
• LSU — No. 4
• Arkansas — No. 34
• Vanderbilt — No. 72
• Kentucky — No. 78

Lots-o-news on the Tennessee Volunteer basketball team today. A few odds and ends:

• The Vols’ win over the No. 2-ranked Florida Gators on Saturday has propelled the team into the top 25. Tennessee is No. 19 in the AP poll and No. 20 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. Said coach Pearl:
  

  At this point of the season, there’s some substance to it. After the Texas game (Dec. 17), I don’t know we deserved to be top 25. But, really, the body of work to this point, with us competing well on the road in defeat as well as the quality victories we have, yeah, I think we’re deserving of the ranking.

• Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley complained to the SEC office about the Volunteer fans storming the court after the big win. (Pulling a John Pennington here), to quote Brad Paisley, “Waa, waa, waa, waa, waa.” (That’s still very hard to type, by the way.) UT was fined $5,000 for the on-the-court celebration. UT athletic director Mike Hamilton and coach Pearl both asked Volunteer fans to refrain from doing it again. Subsequent violations could cost UT up to $50,000.
• Coach Pearl has written a letter to UT donors and season ticket holders imploring them to buy as many tickets as possible for UT’s home game against the Kentucky Wildcats on March 1, 2006. It’s a campaign to “keep the blue out” of Thompson-Boling Arena.
• On that note, thanks to Akijikan, who pointed out that “The Summit” is the name for the court in Thompson-Boling, not the new name for the arena. No offense to Thompson or to Boling, but I think “The Summit” makes a great name for the UT arena and an odd name for a floor, but I have too few dollars to make my opinion count.
• Coach Pearl said this week that talk of an NCAA tournament berth is still a bit premature: “Just the math doesn’t allow it. You have to win half your conference games, and we’ve won three.”
• Sophomore guard Chris Lofton, who scored 29 points against the Gators and made the defensive play of the game, was named the SEC Player of the Week.

Still having intermittent problems with the blog, both on my side and on my host’s side. Sneaking this in before the window of opportunity closes again.

1. Texas

2. Southern Cal

3. Penn State

4. West Virginia

5. Ohio State

6. Georgia

7. Louisiana State

8. TCU

9. Virginia Tech

10. Alabama

11. Oregon

12. UCLA

13. Notre Dame

14. Wisconsin

15. Auburn

16. Florida

17. Boston College

18. Miami

19. Texas Tech

20. Louisville

21. Florida State

22. Clemson

23. Oklahoma

24. Nebraska

25. California

UPDATE: Apparently, a lot of people didn’t get the full effect of the video below, probably due to not having the latest version of Flash (version eight). I’ve added a link to the video in .wmv format, which should work for most people. If you see a hat floating in the air, you’re not seeing the whole thing. Thanks for those who responded with feedback.

---

Yes, blogging has been light the last week or two. Keep reading and you’ll find out why.

First, the context. About two weeks ago, I voted for the first time in MGoBlog’s BlogPoll. My poll is here. For my effort, I earned this rebuke from whip-wielding Brian, MGoBlog’s publisher:

Mr. Bold is the . . . newbie The View From Rocky Top, who, um, really likes the SEC: UGA #4, LSU #5(!), Florida #6(!), Auburn #12, Alabama #14… okay. Florida State is #9, GT #11… er, okay. Perhaps the ballot entry form was excessively confusing? Perhaps the Tennessee Season of Doom has sent our newest poller into a nervous breakdown where this year never happened and it’s 1967 or something? It is the mystery. Explain yourself! Try not to say the words “Southern Speed,” lest you feel the lash of my whip!

Here’s my response:

---

Southern Speed! Southern Speed!! SOUTHERN SPEED!!! Being a very public Volunteer fan over the past four months has made me impervious to pain. So lash away, Brian! Lash away, all! SOUTHERN SPEED!!!!

Actually, though, it’s not really about southern speed. It’s more due to the gradual poisoning of a Tennessee fan’s mind, season by season, game by game, evolving into full-blown lunacy by the end of the 2005 season. Let’s just say I’m not fit to stand trial.

Press play below for the full explanation. WARNING: The video below has sound, and the controls are a bit buggy. Hitting the No Music button will stop the music, but will not prevent the other sounds embedded in the video from playing. [Note to self: separate audio from video in future Flash projects.] Plus, if you want to watch it again, you’ll need to reload the page. Sorry, still learning.

And now . . . View from Rocky Top presents . . . a VollumTears production . . . a film by [insert-your-own-play-on-words-fictional-movie-production-company name here] . . . [and another] . . . [and another] . . . .

To see the video in .wmv format (good for most readers, but might be very small, depending on your settings), follow the Vollum link.

To see the Flash Version, click the play button below:

UPDATE: Just to clarify, I didn’t intend to game the poll. It was in fact, temporary insanity. Yeah, Florida beat two BCS and conference champion teams, and I couldn’t think of another team that had done that, but ranking them No. 6 is, well, crazy. And I do think the Big 10 has an advantage by not having to play a championship game — which only adds one more loss to at least one of the top two teams in the conference and doesn’t much help the winner — but weighting that fact as much as I did was, well, ludicrous.

Anyway, my poll was screwy, but not on purpose. And the fact that it wasn’t on purpose was more embarassing than if I had gamed it. Thus, the video and the insanity defense. But I’m feeling much better now, and you should expect more sanity from me in the future.

Vollum.

UPDATE II: I’m concerned about College Football Resource’s comment that “the black nothing is 99% of the story.” I’m hoping this doesn’t mean that a bunch of people can’t actually see the whole video. The video has text, music, film footage, and an “oddly brown Tennessee hat,” so if you don’t see all of that, something’s wrong. Try upgrading to the latest version of the Flash player. Please email me if you notice anything unusual. Well, anything that doesn’t work right.

1. Texas: UT gets nod over USC only because of USC’s would-be loss to Notre Dame
2. USC: Basically neck and neck with the Longhorns
3. Notre Dame: Two bad calls on final two plays cost them victory over USC
4. Georgia: SEC champ
5. LSU: SEC runner-up
6. Florida: Lost three games, but beat both SEC champ and ACC champ
7. Penn State: Only one loss, but docked for not having to play a championship game
8. Ohio State: Only losses to Texas and Penn State
9. Florida State: Yeah, four losses, but still champ of tough ACC conference
10. Virginia Tech: ACC runner-up
11. Georgia Tech: Four losses, but beat both Auburn and Miami
12. Auburn: Stumbled out of the gate and lost to SEC runner-up LSU, but beat SEC champ Georgia
13. Miami: Throttled ACC runner-up Virginia Tech
14. Alabama: Only losses to SEC runner-up LSU and number 12 Auburn
15. Oregon: Only one loss, but docked for relatively weak conference
16. West Virginia: Received a BCS berth while never cracking the top ten
17. Michigan: Beat Big 10 champ Penn State, but lost four games
18. UCLA
19. Clemson: Beat ACC champ FSU, but who didn’t?
20. South Carolina: Wins over Florida and Tennessee not as impressive in hindsight
21. TCU
22. Northwestern
23. Iowa
24. Iowa State
25. Louisville

The Final Animated BCS Race to the Rose Bowl is up and running on its own static page.

UPDATE: The Final Animated BCS Race to the Rose Bowl is up and running on its own static page.

---

Only one week left, and it’s still looking like the Trojans and the Longhorns will finish Nos. 1 and 2:

Pesky Texas A&M couldn’t keep pace with the Longhorns, and the only real change in the line up this week is that everyone is one week closer to their final position.

The final two big games before the bowls are this Saturday: Texas plays Colorado for the Big XII Championship, and USC hosts No. 12 UCLA.

ABC has both games, Texas-Colorado at 1:00 and UCLA-USC at 4:30. If both the ‘horns and the Trojans win, they’ll meet in the Rose Bowl for the National Championship.

---

If you have any questions at all about the BCS, check out Fanblogs’ excellent Primer to the 2005-2006 BCS Championship.

---

See the Race to the Rose Bowl from the beginning:

• Week Twelve
• Week Eleven
• Week Ten
• Week Nine
• Week Eight
• Week Seven
• Week Six
• Week Five
• Week Four
• Week Three
• Week Two
• Week One
• Preseason

Entering the home stretch:

The Trojans and the Longhorns remain Nos. 1 and 2, and Penn State, LSU, Virginia Tech, and Ohio State all move up one spot due to Miami falling from No. 3 to No. 9 after losing to Georgia Tech. Oregon jumped from No. 10 to No. 7 after clobbering Oregon State, and the Fighting Irish improved by one position. Auburn rounds out the top ten.

The Tennessee Volunteers round out the top 117, and some players are behaving badly.

Games remaining that either will or could impact the Race:

• Texas at Texas A&M, November 25, 2005 (12:00, ABC)
• UCLA (12) at USC (1), December 3, 2005 (4:30, ABC)

---

---

See the Race to the Rose Bowl from the beginning:

• Week Eleven
• Week Ten
• Week Nine
• Week Eight
• Week Seven
• Week Six
• Week Five
• Week Four
• Week Three
• Week Two
• Week One
• Preseason

UPDATE: This is Week Eleven. If you’re looking for the latest, see the Animated BCS Race to the Rose Bowl: Final Bowl Selections.

---

Only a few weeks left to go, and the Race to the Rose Bowl is tightening:Alabama’s loss to the LSU Tigers left the USC Trojans and the Texas Longhorns as the only remaining unbeaten teams. Miami moves up to the third spot behind the unbeatens, and LSU vaults over the Hokies to the fifth position behind number four Penn State. Georgia dropped out of the top ten after a loss to Auburn and is replaced by Notre Dame.

Games remaining that either will or could impact the Race:

• Texas at Texas A&M, November 25, 2005 (12:00, ABC)
• UCLA at USC, December 3, 2005 (4:30, ABC)

---

See the Race to the Rose Bowl from the beginning:

• Week Ten
• Week Nine
• Week Eight
• Week Seven
• Week Six
• Week Five
• Week Four
• Week Three
• Week Two
• Week One
• Preseason

Rounding the final corner:

Virginia Tech drops, but not by much, after getting thrashed by Miami, Georgia re-enters the Race, and Oregon’s putrid yellow and green breaks the top ten.

Games remaining that either will or could impact the Race:

• USC at California, November 12, 2005
• LSU at Alabama, November 12, 2005 (3:30, CBS, maybe)
• Texas at Texas A&M, November 25, 2005 (12:00, ABC)
• UCLA at USC, December 3, 2005 (4:30, ABC)

College Football News’ Run to the Rose Bowl has Three Unbeaten Contenders — USC, Texas, and Alabama — and eight No Margin for Errors — Miami, Penn State, Virginia Tech, LSU, Georgia, Oregon, Texas Tech, and UCLA.

---

See the Race to the Rose Bowl from the beginning:

• Week Nine
• Week Eight
• Week Seven
• Week Six
• Week Five
• Week Four
• Week Three
• Week Two
• Week One
• Preseason