AP Top 25 prediction: Tennessee all but guaranteed to move up due to Michigan disaster

Tennessee's season-opener went just about as well as anyone could have expected, with a dominant win over Furman getting posted. And normally after a Week 1 victory, you still wouldn't expect the Vols to move up in the AP Top 25 poll, as other teams ahead of them typically play cupcake contests and keep their spot. Well, we've got to bring up Michigan right now.

Entering Week 1, the Wolverines were ranked the No. 16 team in the country. However, Bryce Underwood and UM looked downright terrible, needing a miracle to take down Western Michigan on a walk-off Hail Mary. The voters surely are going to keep this in mind once the Week 2 AP Top 25 poll comes out.

With that, it's safe to assume that they're going to get penalized for such a lackluster performance in Kyle Whittingham's disappointing debut. Assuming that does happen, look for the Vols to get bumped to No. 19 in the rankings, up one spot.

Bryce Underwood making headlines for all the wrong reasons will benefit Tennessee and Josh Heupel

During a new press conference, Whittingham even said that Underwood is his starting quarterback 'right now', and that nothing is infinite there. Goodness. It wouldn't be a surprise at all to see the Wolverines fall out of the Top 25 as a whole, which would be eye-opening ahead of a Week 2 battle with Oklahoma.

"He's our QB right now," Whittingham said, which has people talking. "It's not something that's infinite. At some point, we've got to turn a corner, and we've got to see improvement, as we've got to do with a bunch of stuff. We've got to see improvement out of the coaches. It's not just on Bryce, and it's not just Bryce's job that is not absolutely set in concrete. Nobody's is."

This of course is nothing for Heupel and the Vols to worry about, especially after 5-star freshman Faizon Brandon looked so spectacular to start off his career. Brandon tossed for three touchdowns and added two more on the ground. Talk about living up to the hype and getting people in Knoxville even more fired up for what's to come in 2026.

Come Week 2 against Georgia Tech, it's of course going to be a much more difficult showdown for Brandon and Co., especially with this being a road game over in Atlanta. Despite that, the Yellow Jackets suffered a brutal Week 1 loss to Deion Sanders and Colorado, and the morale surrounding the program isn't too high.

This is something for Tennessee to take full advantage of, especially if it enters that showdown on the rise via the rankings, and No. 19 in the country, which is our projection. The Vols could even climb a little higher if Florida State pulls off a shocker against SMU, but conversely, there should be no faith in Mike Norvell right now. Still, Tennessee, barring a surprise, will move on up regardless once the AP Top 25 poll comes out, and it will have the Wolverines to thank for that.

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