Tennessee Stays in the CFP Poll Following a Victorious Regular Season Finale
Tennessee fell out of the Associated Press top 25 poll this week after a dominant win over the Vanderbilt Commodores. Though the Vols routed their in-state foe by 24 points, the media thought their two performances against Georgia and Missouri should keep them out of the top 25. While the AP Poll is less important than the College Football Playoff poll, which comes out tonight, it’s still worth noting. A few programs had strong weekends on rivalry week that may have had cases to jump the Vols. However, this week, Tennessee remains the No. 21 team in the CFP Poll. They come ahead of Tulane, Clemson, Liberty, and Kansas State before the conference championship weekend. This is the second consecutive season that Tennessee has ended the season ranked in the CFP poll, a big win for head coach Josh Heupel and this coaching staff. Now, they sit back and wait for their bowl game destination, with a trip to Florida for the Gator Bowl looking more and more likely.
Toriano Pride Jr., a cornerback for the Clemson football team, has two seasons of experience and knows what he wants from his next school. Chance. That summed up Pride’s interview, which he conducted on Monday for 247Sports’ Transfer Portal Palooza live show on YouTube. This was Pride’s first time speaking in public since he revealed last week that he would be using the NCAA transfer portal. Along with Carl Reed Jr., a college football and recruiting analyst for 247Sports, Pride made an appearance on the show to talk about his high school recruiting process, his reasons for leaving the Tigers, and his future plans. As a member of Clemson’s 2022 recruiting class, Pride—a former top 100 recruit out of St. Louis—made a big impact.
Pride announced last week he’d be entering the portal and formally entered Monday, the first day undergraduate players can enter under NCAA rules. 247Sports ranks him as the No. 1 defensive back available in the portal and the No. 10 available transfer nationally.
However, a few weeks before Pride was scheduled to sign with Clemson, in December 2021, Venables accepted the position of head coach at Oklahoma. Pride shared Venables’ emphasis on urging his prospective Clemson teammates to remain loyal to the Tigers. Pride stated, “I still wanted to have faith in the staff.” But developing a relationship with them and the person who was recruiting me was just different. Going to the school and constructing it there and then, as opposed to Brent Venables and I doing it gradually.
