Where Tennessee Football is ranked after the bye week

Tennessee Football on Sunday was ranked No. 12 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Coaches Poll, moving up three spots in both polls after being ranked No. 15 last week.

The Vols had been ranked No. 15 in both the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll the last four weeks. They were ranked No. 18 in the preseason Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the preseason AP Top 25.

Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 SEC) hosts Arkansas (2-3, 0-1) on Saturday (4:15 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network) at Neyland Stadium. Both teams are coming off bye weeks.

Two teams from last week’s top 10 lost on Saturday, with Penn State falling 42-37 at previously winless UCLA and Texas losing 29-21 at Florida. 

Penn State, which has now lost back-to-back games after losing at home to Oregon last Saturday, was ranked No. 6 in last week’s Coaches Poll and No. 7 in the AP Top 25. 

Texas, which also dropped its second game of the season, was ranked No. 7 in the Coaches Poll and No. 9 in the AP Top 25.

Arkansas made coaching change after three straight losses

The Vols won 41-34 in overtime at Mississippi State last week. The Razorbacks have dropped three straight and have gone through wholesale changes this week.

Arkansas fired head coach Sam Pittman on Sunday, following a third straight loss in a 56-13 home blowout to Notre Dame, and promoted offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Bobby Petrino to interim head coach. 

Petrino on Monday then fired defensive coordinator Travis Williams, defensive line coach Deke Adams and co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson. Arkansas then promoted assistant defensive line coach Chris Wilson to defensive coordinator and running backs coach Kolby Smith as offensive coordinator. Petrino will continue calling plays from the sideline as interim head coach.

The Razorbacks started the season with a 52-7 win over Alabama A&M and a 56-14 win over Arkansas State, then lost 41-35 at Ole Miss on September 13 to start the losing streak that cost Pittman his job. 

Arkansas trailed Notre Dame 42-10 in the first half last Saturday and was coming off a 32-31 loss at Memphis, a game in which the Razorbacks gave up an 18-point lead.

Tennessee is 13-7 all time against Arkansas, dating back to 1907, but the Vols have lost four straight and have not beaten the Razorbacks since 2007.

Arkansas upset Tennessee 19-14 in Fayetteville last season, won 24-13 at home in 2020 and 24-20 at Neyland Stadium in 2015. The run started with a 49-7 home win over the Vols in 2011. 

Tennessee won 34-13 in Knoxville in 2007 and won nine of the first 10 in the series. 

Tennessee Football’s remaining schedule

Tennessee and Arkansas were previously listed as a flex kickoff time in the SEC’s kickoff windows, meaning the game would either start between 3:30-4:30 p.m. Eastern Time or 6-8 p.m. ET.

Other games with flex kickoff windows are at Alabama on October 18, at home against Oklahoma on November 1 and at Florida on November 22. 

The road game at Kentucky on October 25 is in the night window (6-8 p.m. ET) and the Vanderbilt home game in the regular-season finale on November 29 is in the afternoon window (3:30-4:30 p.m. ET). 

The Homecoming game against New Mexico State on November 15 will be a 4:15 p.m. ET start on SEC Network.