Tennessee football moves up in Week 15 SEC Power Rankings
![Vanderbilt defensive lineman Cameron Tidd (90) returns a fumble by Tennessee quarterback Harrison Bailey (15) during the first quarter at Vanderbilt Stadium Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020 in Nashville, Tenn.Gw42957 Vanderbilt defensive lineman Cameron Tidd (90) returns a fumble by Tennessee quarterback Harrison Bailey (15) during the first quarter at Vanderbilt Stadium Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020 in Nashville, Tenn.Gw42957](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/9c395b1ba7d6adfef30689a008590e0fb74ed6fbef1f6220c536b6bada451c0f.jpg)
The Tennessee football Volunteers are up one spot in the Southeastern Conference.
After a six-game losing streak, Tennessee football came away with its first win in over two months. Yes, that helped the Vols somewhat in our SEC Power Rankings, as they were one of five teams to move spots this week. Nobody moved more than one spot, but a huge upset forced us to switch multiple teams around and forced us to start valuing recency over head to head.
Given the news of this week’s Vanderbilt Commodores and Georgia Bulldogs game being postponed, eight teams have now completed their regular season. Two completed them last week, and six of them don’t have anymore games left. This week’s SEC Championship game means two of them still have a game to play despite finishing their regular season.
One league team is out of the College Football Playoff race, a third head coach was recently fired, and recency has more value. Also, one team officially finished the regular season winless, and one finished undefeated. Here’s where Tennessee football and everybody else stands in our SEC Power Rankings after Week 15 of 2020.
Previous: . Commodores . 14. team. 887. . 0-9
Lost to Tennessee Volunteers 42-17
For the first time in school history, the Vanderbilt Commodores have suffered through a winless season. A blowout loss to Tennessee football assured this would be the case. With so few players due to transfers, opt-outs and injuries, Vandy doesn’t have enough players for its final game against the Georgia Bulldogs Saturday. As a result, its season ended last week.
Interim head coach Todd Fitch filled in for Derek Mason, who had been fired two weeks earlier, and to his credit, he helped Vandy build a 10-7 lead over the Vols in the first half. Also, Sarah Fuller made more history, becoming the first Power Five kicker to make an extra point. She made two.
Now, Vandy turns to the future. They have hired Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Clark Lea as head coach. Lea is a Vandy grad. Combine that with Ken Seals coming back at quarterback, and this program does have something to build off of.