Where Tennessee football is ranked in Way Too Early Top 25s for 2024
Let the countdown to the 2024 Tennessee football season begin — 236 days, to be exact. In the moments after the College Football Playoff National Championship Game ended Monday night, the Vols started showing up in the way-too-early rankings looking ahead to next season.
Athlon has Tennessee at No. 11, the Sporting News has the Vols at No. 14 and On3 has Tennessee at No. 15. ESPN, Action Network and Pro Football Focus all have the Vols at No. 17 and Bleacher Report has them at No. 21.
“I am really excited about who is in that locker room,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said after the 35-0 win over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day, “who is coming back, and where we have an opportunity to go in ’24.”
Nico Iamaleava: ‘I really think the sky is the limit for this team’
Tennessee’s 2024 outlook will hinge heavily on the readiness and success of five-star redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava. He looked the part while making his first career start in the Citrus Bowl throwing for 151 yards and rushing for 27 net yards while combining for four total touchdowns (one passing, three rushing).
“We have a great team around us,” Iamaleava said after the game, “great coaching staff, and I really think sky is the limit for this team. It is up to us to go out there and get it done.”
The Vols have won 20 games over the last two years, the most in back-to-back seasons since winning 20 in 2003 and 2004. After going 11-2 in 2022, Tennessee finished 9-4 this season, with losses at Florida, at Alabama, at Missouri and at home against Georgia.
After losing at Missouri 36-7 and 38-10 to No. 1 Georgia at Neyland Stadium in back-to-back weeks in November, the Vols responded with a 48-24 win over Vanderbilt in the regular-season finale and the 35-0 win over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl, the most points allowed by the Hawkeyes this season and Tennessee’s first bowl shutout since 1957.
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“The finish to the ’23 season,” Heupel said, “it is the kickoff to ’24. I think it speaks to the culture that we have inside of our building, our locker room. It speaks to the type of competitors that we have that buckle their chinstraps that wear a Power T on the side of their helmet. You look at the young guys that got so many meaningful snaps today. I think it speaks to the future being extremely bright.”
Vols have added four players from the NCAA Transfer Portal
Tennessee so far has lost 11 players to the NCAA Transfer Portal since the end of the season and has added four players from the portal: Notre Dame tight end Holden Staes, Oregon State defensive back Jermod McCoy, Middle Tennessee State defensive back Jakobe Thomas and Tulane wide receiver Chris Brazzell.
“If we can pour into each other (and) compete extremely hard every single day,” Heupel said, “while having as much fun as we possibly can, the future is extremely bright.
“The challenge is great. The standard is to win championships at Tennessee. Nobody shies away from that. We have to continue to grow to put ourselves in a position to go do that.”
