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ESPN drops Tennessee Football out of updated Way-Too-Early Top 25

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey05/09/25GrantRamey
Josh
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel (© Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

The loss of Nico Iamaleava dropped Tennessee Football out of ESPN’s updated post-spring Way-Too-Early Top 25 for the 2025 season. The Vols were ranked No. 19 in January when the ranking was initially released after the national championship game. 

The Vols parted ways with Iamaleava on April 12, after a messy breakup that started with negotiations for a new NIL deal on April 10 and an unexcused absence at Tennessee’s final spring practice a day later. 

Iamaleava landed at UCLA while the Bruins lost transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar — he had transferred from Appalachian State to UCLA in December — to Tennessee in what ended up being a transfer portal trade. 

Penn State tops ESPN’s updated Way-Too-Early Top 25

Penn State is ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s updated Way-Too-Early Top 25, ahead of Clemson, Texas, Georgia and Ohio State in the top five. The rest of the top 10 was LSU, Notre Dame, Oregon, Alabama and BYU. Other SEC teams in the ranking were No. 13 South Carolina, No. 19 Florida, No. 23 Texas A&M, No. 24 Ole Miss and No. 25 Oklahoma. 

Texas Tech went from unranked to No. 16 in the updated Way-Too-Early Top 25. Oklahoma was also unranked in January, while the Vols were 19th.

“After winning nine games or more for the third straight season and reaching the CFP,” ESPN’s Mark Schlabach wrote at the time, “Josh Heupel has some work to do this offseason, especially on offense. It wouldn’t be surprising to see UT take a step back in 2025. 

“The Volunteers are losing (Dylan) Sampson, the SEC’s leading rusher with 1,491 yards and 22 touchdowns, and their top three receivers (Bru McCoy and Dont’e Thornton exhausted their eligibility, and (Squirrel) White entered the transfer portal). Three starting offensive linemen will also have to be replaced.”

A closer look at Tennessee’s 2025 schedule

Tennessee next season hosts Georgia at Neyland Stadium on September 13, goes to Alabama on October 18 and goes to Florida on November 22. 

The Vols go to Mississippi State on September 27 in the first road SEC game. Tennessee comes back home to face Arkansas on October 11, goes to Kentucky on October 25 and closes the regular-season schedule at home against Vanderbilt on November 29. 

The schedule starts on August 30 with a neutral-site game against Syracuse in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Tennessee hosts ETSU in its home opener on September 6 at Neyland Stadium, hosts UAB on September 20 and New Mexico State on November 15.

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