"It Doesn't Matter," Clark Lea Not Putting Stock in AP Top 25 Ranking

Nashville—-Clark Lea says he hopes he’s not too predictable by now, but even he knows that his message in regard to his team’s ranking in the AP Top 25 hasn’t changed all that much since the first time he’s been asked about it.

In some ways this appearance in the poll is different for Lea’s program. It’s the highest his team has been ranked in his tenure. It’s ranked ahead of Notre Dame, Michigan, USC, Auburn and Clemson. Perhaps this one could be viewed as a beginning point rather than a pinnacle like last season’s ranking.

Lea still doesn’t care, though.

“It doesn’t matter,” Lea said of the ranking on Tuesday. “I think what we're focused on here is just where we want this season to go. No one talks about at the end of the year, what's you’re ranked after the first three games. It just doesn't carry significance. It's not a measure for us.”

When Vanderbilt’s players stepped to the microphone throughout the spring and summer, they never spoke about the desire to be ranked. They never talked about what an appearance in the polls would mean for them.

They’ve been here before already and it didn’t fulfill them. It likely didn’t garner the respect around their program that they thought it would, either. This group has always has its sights set on a College Football Playoff berth and a national championship, not a spot in a top 25 list.

Lea believes the list doesn’t matter, but he’s seen Vanderbilt at its low point and acknowledges that there’s something to it getting credit for taking a step forward.

“I never take for granted the positive energy that surrounds us,” Lea said. “I don't bathe in it, I don't sit there and swim in it. It just feels good to have this program at a point where we feel like we can leak out, we can go win a game and it doesn’t have to be perfect. That feels good.”

Vanderbilt has had more national buzz surrounding it than it’s had at any point in Lea’s tenure outside of the week following its win over No. 1 Alabama. He feels that can be a positive for his program, but doesn’t want it to turn into the negative that’s also plausible.

This Vanderbilt team appeared to get too high on itself after a 2-0 start last season and went into Georgia State riding high enough that it left Atlanta with a loss. The program’s mission is winning, as Vanderbilt three-way star Martel Hight recited on Tuesday morning.

Winning involves confidence and identity. It doesn’t involve holding too tightly to positive external opinion and letting that effect performance. Lea still warns his team that this doesn’t give them a license to do that. If his plan is in everyone’s head, his team is going to focus on themselves, keep their expectations high and hope to keep their hunger.

“We have to stay focused on the team that we're becoming,” Lea said. “We want to be a better team at the end of the season than we were at the beginning. I think to this point, I've been proud of the progress we've made. This is another week for us to take another step in that direction.”

Vanderbilt finding a way to beat Georgia State by a significant amount would indicate that it’s taken a step forward in maturity and would keep it in the top 25. Lea knows that at any point his team could fall out of the rankings because of what they’ve done, though.

The Vanderbilt head coach says that his program has intentionally set high enough standards to that it won’t feel like it’s “made it” at any point during the season. Perhaps that will allow it to avoid feeling as if the sky is falling if it falls out of the AP Poll, as well.

“This season is a marathon, it's not a sprint,” Lea said. “I appreciate the recognition and I'm grateful for where this program is currently.  I am really excited to keep pushing to where I believe, we believe it can go. That’s where we choose to put our attention.”