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Seven AP Poll voters ranked Iowa and left Tennessee off final ballots

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey01/11/24GrantRamey
Tennessee Football
Tennessee Athletics

Apparently seven Associated Press Top 25 voters weren’t sold on Tennessee football’s nine-win season. Seven voters in their final ballots did not rank the Vols, who finished ranked No. 17 in both the AP Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll.

Four of the seven voters — Dave Preston, Ron Counts, Chuck Landon and ESPN’s Rece Davis — had Iowa on their final ballot despite Tennessee beating the Hawkeyes 35-0 in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day.

Tennessee received 402 voter points in the final AP Top 25 ballot. The Vols were ranked as high as No. 13 by Jon Wilner.

Counts had Iowa ranked the highest at No. 17. Davis had Iowa at No. 18 after moving the Hawkeyes up four spots in his final ballot. Preston had Iowa at 20 and Landon had Iowa at 23.

Vols moved up eight spots in final AP Top 25

Tennessee (9-4) moved up eight spots in the final AP Top 25 and moved up six spots in the final Coaches Poll. 

The Vols, who finished at No. 6 in the AP Top 25 last season, 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.

“I am really excited about who is in that locker room,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said after the win over Iowa, “who is coming back, and where we have an opportunity to go in ’24.”

Way-Too-Early Top 25s looking ahead to the 2024 season have Tennessee ranked anywhere from No. 11 to No. 21.

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. 

ESPN: Citrus Bowl was ‘a sneak peek into the future’ for Tennessee

“Volunteers fans got a sneak peek into the future in a 35-0 rout of Iowa in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl,” ESPN’s Mark Schlabach wrote after ranking Tennessee 17th. “With (Joe) Milton opting out of the bowl game, freshman Nico Iamaleava got the start. He completed 12 of 19 passes for 151 yards with one touchdown and three more scores rushing.”

The Vols started this season ranked No. 12 in the AP Preseason Top 25 and dropped as low as No. 25. The Vols moved up three spots to No. 9 overall in Week 2, after the 49-13 win over Virginia in Nashville, then dropped 12 spots in the AP poll after the 29-16 loss at Florida.

The Coaches Poll had Tennessee at No. 10 in its preseason top 25 released on August 7. The Vols were ranked as high as No. 9 in the Coaches Poll and dropped as low as No. 23.

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