Tennessee athletics won the USA Today Networks All-Sports Title for the 2021-22 school year. The 2021-22 school year is the second time the USA Today Network has presented the awards. The USA Today Network succeeds The Halifax Media Group and GateHouse Media, New York Times Regional Newspaper Group and the SEC’s offices in tabulating the rankings.
The award combines the rankings for both men’s and women’s sports. Here’s how the rankings are determined.
“Points are awarded based on the number of competing teams in a sport,” Tennessee said in a statement. “A program’s points total is divided by the total number of teams competing in the sports the school sponsors, and that quotient ranks the teams in the final USA Today Network SEC All-Sports standings.”
It was a narrow victory for Tennessee. Winning the men’s standings and finishing second in the women’s standings, the Vols won a tiebreaker over Florida to earn the All-Sports Championship.
Here’s the rankings behind Tennessee: Florida, Arkansas, LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Auburn, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Missouri.
The men’s title marked Tennessee’s first since the 2007-08 school year.
“When I first came to Tennessee, I was told it was a program on the rise,” Tennessee senior pole vaulter and 2021-22 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Co-President Hannah Jefcoat said. “I would say the rise has happened—but we aren’t finished yet. We have worked hard to build a family-like environment with our student-athletes, and that is evident by the results we are posting as Lady Vols and Vols. GBO!”
Tennessee claimed five total SEC Championships over the last year including Vol baseball’s first regular-season SEC Championship since 1995, SEC tournament titles in baseball, soccer and men’s basketball (the programs first since 1979).
Tenessee’s women’s swimming and diving team won the SEC Championship Meet hosted in Knoxville this winter.
“This is such an exciting time to be a Tennessee Vol,” SEC All-Tournament wing Josiah-Jordan James said in a Tennessee statement. “We’ve got a bunch of different sport teams, but as student-athletes, we really are like one big, united team. We all want to see one another succeed. And this year, we’ve had a ton of success to celebrate. Tennessee provides us with everything we need to be great—there’s no better place in the world to learn, train, compete and develop as a college athlete.”
Tennessee was the only SEC team to finish .500 or above in every team sport with games, finishing with the best win percentage across the conference.
Vol football took a major step forward in Josh Heupel’s first season, Tennessee baseball turned in its best regular season in program history and men’s and women’s basketball finished near the top of the SEC with the Lady Vols making a run to the Sweet 16.
Tennessee tennis fought injuries in an inconsistent regular season before making a run to the program’s second straight Final Four.
