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Tennessee football falls slightly in Week 2 SEC Power Rankings

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee defensive back Doneiko Slaughter (3) celebrates with a coach during an NCAA college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Pittsburgh Panthers in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, September 11, 2021.Utvpitt0911 2095
Tennessee defensive back Doneiko Slaughter (3) celebrates with a coach during an NCAA college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Pittsburgh Panthers in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, September 11, 2021.Utvpitt0911 2095 /
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Vanderbilt quarterback Ken Seals stiffarms CSU offensive lineman Cam Reddy on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021 at Canvas Stadium.Ftc 0911 Ja Csu Vanderbilt Fb 016
Vanderbilt quarterback Ken Seals stiffarms CSU offensive lineman Cam Reddy on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021 at Canvas Stadium.Ftc 0911 Ja Csu Vanderbilt Fb 016 /

After a second week of play, we have a lot more information about SEC teams to organize our power rankings. There have been some unexpected surprises, but nothing has gone too far out of the ordinary yet. Even Tennessee football having a loss this early wasn’t expected. All that was unexpected was how a couple of teams ended up getting to 1-1.

However, everybody in the league having a win makes our SEC Power Rankings a lot more intriguing this year. Things are still not as clear-cut as they should be, but most teams have now faced at least one Power Five foe on the year.

This week, we’ve all but eliminated what preseason expectations were for each program, and we’re now just basing our rankings on their record, the tiers of their opponents, strength of schedule and margin of victory. See where that puts Tennessee football in our SEC Power Rankings following Week 2 of the 2021 season.

14. team. 887. . 1-1. Previous: . Commodores

Last week: Defeated Colorado State Rams 24-21

Want to talk about the happiest last-place team in any power ranking ever? That’s the Vanderbilt Commodores. Clark Lea’s team looked to be in for a long season after losing 23-3 to the East Tennessee state Buccaneers to open 2021. Sure, the Colorado State Rams also lost their opener to an FCS team, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, but SD St. is way better than ETSU.

Anyway, early on, it looked like Vandy’s disastrous season would be affirmed, as they fell behind 14-0 to CSU early. However, they rebounded for a shocking comeback, scoring 21 straight. Then they kicked a game-winning field goal with 20 seconds left.

All of a sudden, this team is 1-1, and they now get to face the program that they were trying to model themselves after when they hired Derek Mason all those years ago. The Stanford Cardinal are coming to town this weekend, fresh off a win over the USC Trojans. It’s unlikely Vandy can do it again against this team, but they now look a bit tougher for Tennessee football later this year.

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