Of the 120 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, only three are 4-0 this season and not in either of the Top 25 polls.

You guessed it: Auburn's one of them.

"As long as we keep winning and as long as we stay undefeated, they've got to talk about us sooner or later," cornerback Walt McFadden said.

The other unranked 4-0 schools are South Florida and Wisconsin. Like those two, Auburn remains in the others receiving votes category in both polls, effectively putting it 27th in the Associated Press poll and 28th in the USA Today/Coaches' poll.

But voters have been slow to buy into the Tigers' fast start, probably because of the level of competition (only West Virginia carries any kind of national cache) and location (all four games have been at Jordan-Hare Stadium).

Auburn head coach Gene Chizik, who was a staff member on the undefeated 2004 team that was snubbed for the national championship because of its place in the polls, doesn't pay much attention to it.

“I don’t control that and I don’t even have a thought on it," Chizik said. "Week to week we have to win and all that other stuff takes care of itself. I don’t spend a lot of energy on things I have absolutely no control over.”

Nevertheless, Auburn's players think a win in a hostile environment against a big-name school like Tennessee could push the Tigers into the Top 25.

"Yeah, just because there's more publicity on this one," left guard Mike Berry said. "This is the one we actually need to put us in that top 25."