Tennessee moves up two spots in ESPN's updated Football Power Index
Tennessee moved up two spots to No. 7 overall in ESPN’s Football Power Index following the 69-3 season-opening win over Chattanooga on Saturday at Neyland Stadium. Ranked ahead of the Vols are No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 5 Penn State and No. 6 Notre Dame.
The FPI now projects a win-loss record of 9.2-3.0 for Tennessee. It gives the Vols a 1.3% chance to go undefeated and a 98.8% chance to win at least six games.
Tennessee (1-0) now goes on the road for a neutral-site game against North Carolina State (1-0) on Saturday night (7:30 Eastern Time, ABC) in the Duke’s Mayo Classic at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
N.C. State dropped 28 spots to No. 56 in the updated FPI after having to rally in the second half to beat Western Carolina 38-21 Thursday night in Raleigh.
The FPI now gives Tennessee a 6.4% chance to win the SEC, a 50.2% chance to make the new 12-team College Football Playoff, a 9.1% chance to make the national championship game and a 4.3% chance to win the title.
The Vols last week were ranked No. 9 in the FPI with a projected win-loss record of 8.6-3.5, 95.4% chance to win at least six games, a 5.5% chance to win the SEC, a 36.9% chance to make the CFP, a 6.0% chance to make the national championship game and a 2.7% chance to win the national title.
Tennessee’s Opponents in the ESPN Football Power Index
Tennessee will play the current No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Football Power Index, hosting No. 2 Alabama in October and going to No. 1 Georgia in November.
The Vols also face No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 29 Kentucky, No. 31 Arkansas, No. 36 Mississippi State, No. 43 Florida, No. 68 Vanderbilt, No. 118 UTEP and No. 134 Kent State.
After Saturday night’s game against N.C. State, Tennessee is back home to host Kent State on September 14 (7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network), then goes to Oklahoma on September 21 and Arkansas on October 5, playing the first two SEC games of the season on the road.
The Vols then host four straight home games over a five-week span, facing Florida, Alabama, Mississippi State and Kentucky.
‘All in all a good day’: Tennessee 69, Chattanooga 3
Nico Iamaleava completed 22 of 28 passes for 314 yards and three touchdowns Saturday while leading Tennessee to a 45-0 lead at halftime over Chattanooga. Iamaleava set a new Tennessee program record for passing yards in a half before sitting in the second half.
Dylan Sampson led the Vols on the ground with 12 rushes for 124 yards and three touchdowns.
“Offensively, did some really good things early.” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said after the win. “Got to learn how to stay dialed in and finish a half, a quarter of the football game. But all in all a good day.”
