Tennessee picked to finish seventh in SEC’s new 16-team league
Josh Heupel’s Tennessee Volunteers were picked to finish seventh in the new-look Southeastern Conference ahead of the 2024 football season, the first with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma to bring the league to 16 total teams.
The preseason poll was voted on by members of the media who were in attendance for the SEC Media Days this week in Dallas, TX.
Divisions are no more as the ‘East’ and ‘West’ have been disposed of and the conference will play as one for the first time since 1991. The top-two teams by seasons end, based on win percentage in conference games, will compete in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta ahead of the new 12-team College Football Playoffs.
Tennessee placed seventh in the preseason poll, just ahead of Oklahoma in eighth and behind Missouri in sixth. The top-five includes Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Ole Miss and LSU while Texas A&M placed ninth and Auburn 10th. Kentucky, Florida, South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt conclude the rankings from 11th to 16th.
Georgia was the overwhelming favorite to win the league with 165 first-place votes. The Longhorns, ahead of their first season in the league, finished with 27 first-place votes while the Crimson Tide captured 12 votes to win the league. Ole Miss gained four first-place votes, LSU had a pair, South Carolina had one and Vanderbilt was awarded two.
The Volunteers also boast a pair of First-Team All-SEC Preseason selections with Cooper Mays (OL) and James Pearce (OL) – both of which have already been named preseason All-Americans by two separate publications.
Tennessee finished the 2023 campaign with an 8-4 record in the regular season. The 35-0 shutout win over Iowa in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day improved the overall record to 9-4 with plenty of momentum following the first-career start for former five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
The Volunteers begin preseason camp on Wednesday, July 31 with the first game coming a month later on August 31 against Tennessee Chattanooga inside Neyland Stadium.
2024 SEC Preseason Poll
1. Georgia Bulldogs – 3,330 (165)
2. Texas Longhorns – 3,041 (27)
3. Alabama Crimson Tide – 2,891 (12)
4. Ole Miss Rebels – 2,783 (4)
5. LSU Tigers – 2,322 (2)
6. Missouri Tigers – 2,240
7. Tennessee Volunteers – 2,168
8. Oklahoma Sooners – 2,022
9. Texas A&M Aggies – 1,684
10. Auburns Tigers – 1,382
11. Kentucky Wildcats – 1,371
12. Florida Gators – 1,146
13. South Carolina Gamecocks – 923 (1)
14. Arkansas Razorbacks – 749
15. Mississippi State Bulldogs – 623
16. Vanderbilt Commodores – 293 (2)
