Tennessee football fell 37-20 to Alabama on Saturday night. It was a night where the Vols seemingly had several opportunities to get back into the game and even take the lead in the first half, but continued to miss opportunities.
The Vols' 20 points on Saturday is the lowest point total scored this season, but the box score would indicate Tennessee actually played a pretty good game, despite Alabama eventually pulling away and covering the spread.
Tennessee was better on fourth down, converting 4-of-5 attempts, and had more rushing yards, passing yards, and total yards. Penalties were similar in yardage, and each team finished with one turnover.
The biggest difference was that Alabama scored on its turnover, resulting in a nine-point swing at the end of the first half, and Tennessee was unable to convert offensively after recovering a fumble.
As a result of Tennessee's inability to execute, the Vols dropped in the updated AP Poll. They were ranked No. 11 last week and fell to No. 17 this week.
Tennessee is the 8th-highest ranked SEC team in the top 25, joining No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Georgia, No. 8 Ole Miss, No. 10 Vanderbilt, No. 13 Oklahoma, and No. 15 Missouri.
BREAKING: College Football AP Poll🚨https://t.co/0uhQNsSFok pic.twitter.com/CJRIr5XADX
— On3 (@On3sports) October 19, 2025
Other notables in the top 25 are No. 1 Ohio State holding down the top spot with Indiana at No. 2, setting up a massive Big Ten Championship Game if each team can remain the top two teams in the conference.
Additional SEC teams in the top 25 are LSU at No. 20 and Texas at No. 22, both programs having disappointing seasons after preseason expectations had each team in the national title conversation.
Tennessee now moves on to its border battle against Kentucky this week. The Vols will travel to Lexington for back-to-back SEC road night games.