The Tennessee Volunteers didn’t get a whole lot of love from the media in the SEC preseason poll, coming in ninth out of 16 teams. The coaches around the country appear to have a similar estimation of Tennessee.
The 2025 preseason Coaches Poll came out on Monday, and the Vols came in at #18.
NEW The Preseason Coaches Poll just dropped!
Who should be higher? pic.twitter.com/klBAic09So
— CBS Sports College Football (@CBSSportsCFB) August 4, 2025
However, that puts Tennessee eighth among SEC schools, one off from their preseason media prediction.
Texas checks in at #1, followed by Georgia at 4, Alabama at 8, LSU at 9, South Carolina at 13, Ole Miss at 15, and Florida at 17.
Preseason polls are a bit of a crapshoot, as we see from year-to-year teams fall on their faces while others emerge. And most schools at the top are based on what they did last year and the belief in how that will carry over into 2024. It’s a bit unfair to a degree, but fortunately, the poll that matters the most – the CFP rankings – don’t come out until November, when two months of the season have taken place.
But preseason polls aren’t going anywhere, and the Vols start in a position at #18 where – if they can take care of business where they are supposed to and pull off a surprise along the way – could make the field for the second straight season.