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Where Tennessee Football is ranked in the updated AP Top 25, Coaches Poll after Week 1

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey09/02/25GrantRamey
Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images | Tennessee running back Peyton Lewis (2) runs the ball during the Aflac Kickoff Game between the Volunteers and Syracuse held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., on August 30, 2025.
Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images | Tennessee running back Peyton Lewis (2) runs the ball during the Aflac Kickoff Game between the Volunteers and Syracuse held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., on August 30, 2025.

Tennessee Football moved up one spot to No. 17 in the new Coaches Poll on Tuesday afternoon, following Week 1 of the college football season. The Associated Press Top 25 moved Tennessee up two spots to No. 22.

The Vols were ranked No. 18 in the Preseason Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25.

Tennessee (1-0) started the season with a 45-26 win over Syracuse in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

ESPN moved Tennessee up six spots from No. 24 to No. 28 in its Top 25, while it was a jump of seven spots from No. 22 to No. 15 in the Pro Football Focus Top 25.

Home Opener: Tennessee vs. ETSU, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET

The Vols open the home schedule against ETSU (1-0) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+/SEC Network+) at Neyland Stadium and host Georgia in the SEC opener next week.

The top 10 was forced to shuffle after Texas, ranked No. 1 in both polls in the preseason, lost 14-7 at Ohio State on Saturday. 

Clemson, ranked No.4 in the preseason AP Top 25 and No. 6 in the preseason Coaches Poll, lost at home to LSU, which was previously ranked No. 9 in both polls.

Alabama, ranked No. 8 in both preseason polls, lost 31-17 at unranked Florida State. 

Texas dropped to No. 7 in AP Top 25 and Alabama dropped to No. 21. The Longhorns dropped to No. 6 in the Coaches Poll and the Crimson Tide dropped to No. 20. LSU moved up to No. 4 in the Coaches Poll and No. 3 in the AP Top 25.

Tennessee got 247 yards passing and three touchdowns from quarterback Joey Aguilar in his first start, while the Vols also ran for 246 yards and got three total touchdowns from running backs DeSean Bishop, Peyton Lewis and Star Thomas. 

The Vols on defense finished with 5.0 sacks for a combined loss of 39 yards and had 7.0 tackles for loss for a combined loss of 45 yards. Syracuse finished with 377 yards on 84 offensive plays, averaging 4.48 yards per play. The Orange rushed 44 times for 103 yards and completed 23 of 40 passes for 274 yards.

ESPN adds Tennessee to College Football Playoff projections

ESPN’s Heather Dinich added Tennessee to her updated College Football Playoff projections, with the Vols as a No. 8 seed and hosting No. 9 Notre Dame in the first round.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly and Andrea Adelson also added Tennessee to their playoff projections. Adelson has Tennessee as the No. 7 seed while Connelly has the Vols as a No. 9 seed. 

Tennessee is No. 8 in ESPN’s Football Power Index, which projects the Vols to go 9-3. The FPI gives Tennessee a 50.4% chance to make the College Football Playoff. 

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