For the first time since 2008, the Vols will begin the season ranked in the Amway Coaches Poll.
The Vols snuck in at No. 25, and are one of two teams (along with Arkansas) in the poll that finished with seven wins in the 2014 season. Overall, Tennessee comes in eighth among SEC teams, behind Alabama (3), Auburn (7), Georgia (9), LSU (13), Ole Miss (15), Arkansas (20) and Missouri (23). The SEC led all conferences in number of teams selected.
USA Today, the administrator of the poll, notes that Tennessee edged Mississippi State by just two poll points for the final spot in the Top 25. The Vols haven’t been ranked in a major poll since they were No. 24 in the Associated Press Poll the week before the Florida game in 2012.
The voting panel, consisting of 64 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches, is chosen conference by conference by the AFCA via a random draw. A coach must indicate to the AFCA his willingness to participate before his name is included in the pool, according to USA Today. Tennessee coach Butch Jones is not a voter in 2015.
The first regular-season poll is scheduled to be released Sept. 8. The final regular-season poll is scheduled to be released Dec. 6.
Full Poll:
1. Ohio State
2. TCU
3. Alabama
4. Baylor
5. Oregon
6. Michigan State
7. Auburn
8. FSU
9. Georgia
10. USC
11. Notre Dame
12. Clemson
13. LSU
14. UCLA
15. Ole Miss
16. Arizona State
17. Georgia Tech
18. Wisconsin
19. Oklahoma
20. Arkansas
21. Stanford
22. Arizona
23. Missouri
24. Boise State
25. Tennessee
Others receiving votes:
Mississippi State 164; Texas A&M 149; Oklahoma State 89; Virginia Tech 70; Utah 40; Kansas State 37; Louisville 27; Nebraska 27; Minnesota 25; Penn State 20; South Carolina 18; Miami (Fla.) 16; Texas 8; Illinois 7; Duke 6; Air Force 5; Louisiana Tech 5; Marshall 4; Utah State 4; West Virginia 3; North Carolina State 3; Brigham Young 3; Florida 2; Georgia Southern 2; North Carolina 2; Maryland 1; Michigan 1; Kentucky 1; Central Florida 1; Cincinnati 1; Washington 1.
