Where Tennessee Football is ranked in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25
Tennessee Football will start the season ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25. The preseason poll was released on Monday, with Georgia coming in at No. 1 ahead of Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and Alabama, respectively.
The Vols will face four opponents ranked in the preseason AP Top 25, with No. 16 Oklahoma and No. 25 North Carolina State joining No. 1 Georgia and No. 5 Alabama.
Tennessee finished at No. 17 in the AP poll after going 9-4 last season, ending the year with a 35-0 win over No. 24 Iowa in the Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on New Year’s Day. The Vols were ranked No. 12 in the Preseason AP Top 25 a year ago, moved up to No. 11 after a 2-0 start then dropped 12 spots to No. 23 after the loss at Florida.
Tennessee dropped out of the poll in the last week of November last season, after a home loss to Georgia, but returned to the rankings at No. 25 a week later.
Where Tennessee is ranked in the Preseason Coaches Poll
The Vols last week were also ranked No. 15 in the Preseason Coaches Poll. The top five was the same, too, with Georgia at No. 1 ahead of Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and Alabama.
Four teams on Tennessee’s schedule were ranked in the preseason Coaches Poll, starting with No. 1 Georgia and No. 4 Alabama. Oklahoma was No. 16 and North Carolina State came in at No. 22.
The Vols , who finished last season at No. 17 in the Coaches Poll, started at No. 10 in the preseason poll and moved up as high as No. 9. They dropped to No. 20 after the loss at Florida and were back up to No. 12 to start November, before the home loss to Georgia.
Season Opener: Tennessee vs. Chattanooga, Aug. 31, 12:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network
Tennessee opens the season against Chattanooga on August 31 (12:45 p.m. Eastern Time, TV: SEC Network) and faces North Carolina State on September 7 in Charlotte (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC),
After hosting Kent State on September 14, the Vols open SEC play with road games at Oklahoma (September 21) and at Arkansas (October 5).
Tennessee hosts Florida and Alabama back-to-back on October 12 and October 19, respectively, then has home games against Kentucky (November 2) and Mississippi State (November 9) before going to Georgia on November 16.
