All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football up in both polls, unchanged in adjusted Coaches Poll

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 05: A Tennessee Volunteers megaphone sits on the sideline during the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 05: A Tennessee Volunteers megaphone sits on the sideline during the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Tennessee football Volunteers moved in the AP and Coaches Polls.

Technically, Tennessee football made a significant jump in both the AP and Coaches Polls this week without playing a game. The Vols jumped 10 spots to No. 15 in the AP Poll and nine spots to No. 17 in the Coaches Poll.

However, there’s a catch to this. After including both Big Ten and Pac-12 schools, and even Mountain West and MAC schools for that matter if they were relevant, neither poll included schools from those conferences in their second week. That implied a more significant jump than what would have been.

For instance, Tennessee football was No. 16 in the adjusted AP Preseason Poll instead of No. 25. Taking that into account, they jumped up just one spot. Meanwhile, they were No. 17 in the adjusted Coaches Poll to start the year. Well, they remain No. 17.

Taking that into account, the movement is a heck of a lot less significant than it was before. There were nine schools ahead of UT who fell out due to the adjustments: The Ohio State Buckeyes, the Penn State Nittany Lions, the Oregon Ducks, the Wisconsin Badgers, the Michigan Wolverines, the USC Trojans, the Minnesota Golden Gophers,  the Utah Utes and the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Meanwhile, the Iowa State Cyclones, also ahead of the Vols in both polls, dropped out due to their 31-14 loss to the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns. UT also jumped the Virginia Tech Hokies in the Coaches Poll, who didn’t play this past weekend and have this weekend’s game postponed. They were already ahead of VT in the AP Poll.

That makes 10 teams the Vols leapfrogged in the AP Poll, explaining their No. 15 ranking. However, after leapfrogging 11 teams in the Coaches Poll, how did they not jump from No. 26 to No. 15? Well, the Louisville Cardinals, who beat the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, and the Memphis Tigers, who beat the Arkansas State Red Wolves, both jumped ahead of them.

Next. 10 greatest single seasons by Vols players of all time. dark

As a result, Tennessee football is stuck at No. 17 in its adjusted rankings while up at No. 15 in the AP Poll. There’s not a lot of movement expected this week either, but the fun will begin Sept. 26, when the Vols play their first game at the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Home/Vols Football