Only 42 days remain until it’s Football Time in Tennessee.
Well, it’ll be football time in Atlanta, really, but close enough. The Volunteers are set to embark on Josh Heupel’s fifth season in Knoxville when they kick off the season in a neutral-site non-conference matchup against Syracuse on Aug. 30 in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
A few weeks ago, we took a look at some of the various rankings for Tennessee and its opponents as the offseason winds to a close. These rankings won’t matter when the ball is spotted for week one, but they still give an interesting perspective on the thought differences between experts, media members, and computer analytics.
Previously, we only had ESPN’s Football Power Index rankings and ESPN’s way-too-early rankings to look at. In this latest update, we’ve added USA Today’s conference power rankings and SEC media preseason rankings following SEC Media Days last week in Atlanta.
The way-too-early rankings are from the furthest point back, coming out last May after teams had wrapped up spring training camps. ESPN’s FPI has been calculated across the summer.
Tennessee didn’t land a spot in Mark Schlabach’s early Top 25 poll, but they did receive a favorable nod from the computer rankings. ESPN’s FPI has the Vols at the No. 10 slot in the rankings.
Adding in the two new polls, we see Tennessee land at No. 7 in USA Today’s SEC power rankings and No. 9 in the SEC media’s collective rankings.
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Here’s a look at the polls and rankings for Tennessee’s 12 opponents this season, including the various added polls from the last week:
Week 1 – Tennessee vs Syracuse – Aug. 30
- Way-Too-Early: N/R
- ESPN FPI: No. 62
Week 2 – ETSU at Tennessee – Sep. 6
- Way-Too-Early: N/R
- ESPN FPI: N/R
Week 3 – Georgia at Tennessee – Sep. 13
- Way-Too-Early: No. 4
- ESPN FPI: No. 2
- Media Preseason Rank: No. 2
- USA Today Power Rankings: No. 2
Week 4 – UAB at Tennessee – Sep. 20
- Way-Too-Early: N/R
- ESPN FPI: No. 115
Week 5 – Tennessee at Mississippi State – Sep. 27
- Way-Too-Early: N/R
- ESPN FPI: No. 52
- Media Preseason Rank: No. 16
- USA Today Power Rankings: No. 16
Week 6 – OFF – Oct. 4
Week 7 – Arkansas at Tennessee – Oct. 11
- Way-Too-Early: N/R
- ESPN FPI: No. 22
- Media Preseason Rank: No. 3
- USA Today Power Rankings: No. 3
Week 8 – Tennessee at Alabama – Oct. 18
- Way-Too-Early: No. 9
- ESPN FPI: No. 2
- Media Preseason Rank: No. 3
- USA Today Power Rankings: No. 3
Week 9 – Tennessee at Kentucky – Oct. 25
- Way-Too-Early: N/R
- ESPN FPI: No. 34
- Media Preseason Rank: No. 15
- USA Today Power Rankings: No. 15
Week 10 – Oklahoma at Tennessee – Nov. 1
- Way-Too-Early: No. 25
- ESPN FPI: No. 16
- Media Preseason Rank: No. 10
- USA Today Power Rankings: No. 6
Week 11 – OFF – Nov. 8
Week 12 – New Mexico State at Tennessee – Nov. 15
- Way-Too-Early: N/R
- ESPN FPI: No. 134
Week 13 – Tennessee at Florida – Nov. 22
- Way-Too-Early: No. 19
- ESPN FPI: No. 18
- Media Preseason Rank: No. 6
- USA Today Power Rankings: No. 5
Week 14 – Vanderbilt at Tennessee – Nov. 29
- Way-Too-Early: N/R
- ESPN FPI: No. 56
- Media Preseason Rank: No. 13
- USA Today Power Rankings: No. 13
