Tennessee On The Rise In AP, Coaches Polls After Vanderbilt Blowout

The Tennessee Volunteers are on the rise in the final AP Top 25 poll and USA Today Coaches Poll of the regular season.

After shutting out Vanderbilt by a score of 56-0 on Saturday night, Tennessee officially ends the regular season with a 10-2 record and a second-place finish in the SEC East.

Previously ranked at No. 10 in the AP poll, Tennessee moves up three spots to No. 7 in the rankings.

Despite a head-to-head win over the Tide in October and the same regular season record, Alabama ranks one spot ahead of Tennessee at No. 6 in the AP Poll. Georgia still leads all SEC teams at the No. 1 spot in the country.

LSU drops to No. 11 in the country after the loss to Texas A&M and South Carolina enters the poll at No. 20 after back-to-back Top 10 wins against Tennessee and Clemson.

Then-ranked No. 2 Ohio State dropped three spots in the rankings to No. 5, which was also the exact same outcome of Tennessee’s loss to Georgia back in Week 10. Tennessee entered that game with the Bulldogs ranked at AP No. 2 and fell back to No. 5 after the loss.

The Week 14 AP Poll Top 10 is as follows:

1. Georgia (12-0)
2. Michigan (12-0)
3. TCU (12-0)
4. Southern California (11-1)
5. Ohio State (11-1)
6. Alabama (10-2)
7. Tennessee (10-2)
8. Penn State (10-2)
9. Washington (10-2)
10. Clemson (10-2)

The USA Today Coaches Poll, on the other hand, has Tennessee with the same jump but a lower standing overall.

After previously being ranked outside the Top 10 at No. 11 in the coaches poll, Tennessee jumps up three spots to No. 8. Tennessee is the third-highest two-loss team in the rankings out of the five.

The Week 14 Coaches Poll Top 10 is as follows:

1. Georgia (12-0)
2. Michigan (12-0)
3. TCU (12-0)
4. Southern California (11-1)
5. Ohio State (11-1)
6. Alabama (10-2)
7. Penn State (10-2)
8. Tennessee (10-2)
9. Washington (10-2)
10. Kansas State (9-3)

The next round of the College Football Playoffs rankings, which will be released on Tuesday night, should provide for an interesting outcome. Since the initial release of the rankings in Week 10, the CFB Playoff rankings are the official numbers to go by.

Still, though, the AP and coaches polls do give a good idea as to where Tennessee might land.

Following the loss to South Carolina, Tennessee was AP No. 9, coaches No. 11, and ended up right in the middle at No. 10 in the CFB Playoff rankings that Tuesday night.

The Vols will now wait a week to see which bowl game their ticket will be punched into.