It's safe to assume that Tennessee football isn't listening to the outside noise, especially with it officially being game week. Syracuse is the focus and Josh Heupel could care less about rankings for his team. However, it's still something the fanbase can talk about.
ESPN came out with its computer-generated FPI rankings on Sunday and in surprising fashion, the Vols cracked the Top 10. Not only that, but Tennessee finds itself No. 8 in the country. The Preseason AP Top 25 has the Vols ranked No. 24, so this was a pretty surprising landing spot for the SEC side:
Watch 5-star Tennessee commit Faizon Brandon score game-winning TD in his season opener
ESPN’s computer-generated FPI has updated heading into Week 1📈📉https://t.co/MONBu3PcFS pic.twitter.com/XLCTC4hUDl
— On3 (@On3sports) August 24, 2025
Tennessee football is ranked No. 8 in ESPN's updated FPI rankings
Yes, these rankings aren't going to mean anything once the ball is placed on the turf, but it should give the UT faithful some hope who may be nervous leading up to Week 1. Against Syracuse, the Vols are strong favorites and the expectation is they'll start the season 1-0.
While the defense has people fired up, we don't have to tell you that a lot of focus is going to be on the play of new starting quarterback Joey Aguilar. The Nico Iamaleava replacement is going to want to start his season off with a bang.
Thus far this summer, Aguilar has stolen plenty of hearts in Knoxville because of his humble demeanor. Don't forget even for a second, however, that he has a rocket for an arm and he's going to be jacked up to put on a show against the Orange.
Following Week 1, Tennessee will head home for three consecutive games at Neyland Stadium against East Tennessee State, Georgia and UAB. That Week 3 matchup with the Bulldogs is something Vols Nation has had circled on their calendars for quite some time.
Should Aguilar, Jermod McCoy (if he's healthy) and others lead Tennessee to an upset win over Kirby Smart, then we can start talking about the Vols being a Top 10-15 team in the AP rankings. For now, everyone is on wait-and-see mode for how Heupel and Co. will perform this season. Luckily, the wait is just about over for the pads to come on and for Tennessee to prove that 2024 wasn't a fluke.