Tennessee football drops a spot in ESPN's FPI rankings after dominant win

Tennessee football handled business in its SEC opener. The Vols went into Norman, dominated Oklahoma for three and a half quarters, and won 25-15 in their first SEC game of the season. 

The Vols' defense was the headliner in Tennessee's SEC opening win. Josh Heupel played conservative on offense and leaned on his defense to get the win, and that's exactly what happened. 

Tennessee's win introduced a new era of football on Rocky Top, where Tennessee didn't need to play an up-tempo, aggressive brand of offensive football for 60 minutes to win a game. 

The defense was elite against the Sooners' offense, and the special teams unit won the field position battle, which guided the Vols to victory. In its primetime win, Tennessee proved to be national championship contenders on both sides of the ball. 

Despite the dominant performance, Tennessee dropped a spot in ESPN's Football Power Index rankings. The Vols were ranked No. 4 in last week's computer-generated rankings and sat ahead of Georgia, but they dropped a spot after their win and Georgia's BYE Week. 

Tennessee now sits at No. 5 in the FPI rankings, while Oklahoma dropped two spots to No. 17. ESPN's FPI seems to not believe Tennessee's win was as big as the people who watched the Vols dominate the Sooners. 

Texas still sits at No. 1 after its blowout win over Louisiana-Monroe, Alabama is at No. 2 after a BYE Week, Ohio State stays at No. 3, and Georgia sits at No. 4. This sets up another "game of the decade" next week when Alabama and Georgia face off in Bryant-Denny Stadium. 

Five other SEC teams are ranked in this week's FPI rankings: Ole Miss is No. 6, Missouri is No. 14, Texas A&M is No. 18, LSU is No. 19, and Tennessee's next opponent is Arkansas at No. 23. 

Tennessee football will have two weeks to prepare for its next SEC matchup against the No. 23 Razorbacks, who will look to shock the country in its continued rise up the ranks in a year they were expected to win no more than a few games.