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Tennessee football one spot out of Coaches Poll top 25

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 29: A general view of Neyland Stadium during the South Carolina Gamecocks game against the Tennessee Volunteers on October 29, 2011 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 29: A general view of Neyland Stadium during the South Carolina Gamecocks game against the Tennessee Volunteers on October 29, 2011 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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The 2020 Amway Coaches Poll preseason rankings had the Tennessee football Volunteers at No. 26.

They just missed out. Tennessee football tied with the Boise State Broncos for No. 26 in the Amway Coaches Poll preseason top 25 rankings Thursday presented by USA TODAY for their highest preseason ranking in the poll since 2017, Butch Jones’ last year on Rocky Top.

Both UT and Boise State each received 111 votes. Just ahead of the Vols were the Iowa State Cyclones at No. 25 with 135 votes and then the Virginia Tech Hokies with 143 votes. Everybody else had over 200 votes in the rankings.

Three SEC teams were in the top five with the Alabama Crimson Tide coming in at No. 3, the Georgia Bulldogs coming in at No. 4 and the LSU Tigers coming in at No. 5. Meanwhile, the Florida Gators came in at No. 8. Other SEC teams in the top 25 included the Auburn Tigers at No. 11 and the Texas A&M Aggies at No. 13.

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As of right now, Tennessee football plays two top five teams and three top 10 teams in Alabama, Georgia and Florida. They would have played four top 10 teams, with the Oklahoma Sooners at No. 6, but the move to all-SEC scheduling eliminated that game.

However, that move could end up adding LSU, Auburn or Texas A&M to the Vols’ slate. Heck, it could add two of those teams, as the plan is for each school to go to a 10-game schedule with their eight current league opponents and two more added.

Another opponent of Rocky Top who received votes in the poll is the Kentucky Wildcats, who came in at No. 29 with 73 votes. The Mississippi State Bulldogs could be a potential opponent, and they came in at No. 39 with nine votes.

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After being shut out of the Coaches Poll Jeremy Pruitt’s first year on the job in 2018, Tennessee football received just one vote in 2019. Coming off an 8-5 record with tons of returning starters, though, the expectations are much higher this year, and that showed with this ranking.

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