The 2024 season was one for the history books in Rocky Top. After years of chasing the dream, Tennessee finally punched its ticket to the College Football Playoffs, proving the Vols can compete in the new era of college football.
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So naturally, when ESPN’s Bill Connelly dropped his ranking of every team to ever make the CFP, Tennessee fans were left shaking their heads. The Vols didn’t get the respect they earned, and it’s the kind of slight that feels all too familiar in national media circles.
ESPN has a lot of influence on college football fans. The list is subjective, and everyone has their opinion, but some of the logic is flawed. The way ESPN writes about a school can be the determining factor in a lot of things, and Tennessee fans are not happy about the perception of Tennessee.
Connelly has the Vols 2024 team ranked as the No. 51 team in the College Football Playoff of all time. There are 64 teams on the list.
Why Tennessee was slighted by ESPN
In 2024, ESPN ranked Tennessee the No. 8 team by the football power index. Compared to Texas A&M this year, it was ranked 10th and still above Tennessee. The Vols played a more demanding schedule than the 2025 Aggies, yet were still placed lower? It doesn't make sense.
The 2022 TCU team was ranked as the 37th team, and they are astonishingly higher than Tennessee, which is a head-scratcher. To refresh your memory, this Horned Frogs team was smoked by Georgia in the National Title game. Yes, they did make it that far, but they played in a much easier conference, and when they played an SEC team, they looked like an FCS school.
TCU was rated No. 13 by ESPN FPI that year, and once again, they are much higher than the Vols. That's the thing that is really confusing people: their own metric says Tennessee was "better," but their rankings do not reflect it.
Nobody is saying the 2024 Vols team was the greatest show on turf. Its just the fact that the National media once again kicks on the Vols.