ESPN's Greg McElroy Explains Why Tennessee Football Doesn't Have a Top 10 Defense

ESPN's Greg McElroy explains why the Tennessee Volunteers' defense did not rank inside the top 10 for the 2025 college football season.

Jan 10, 2022; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Greg McElroy attends the 2022 CFP college football national championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

ESPN's Greg McElroy explains why the Tennessee Volunteers' defense did not rank inside the top 10 for the 2025 college football season.

While high-flying and fast-paced offenses are prevalent in the sport of college football more than ever, possessing an elite defense is still a necessity for winning championships in the 12-team College Football Playoff era. 

Seeing as defense is such an important component of a team's success, ESPN's Greg McElroy took the liberty to rank what he believes are the top-10 defenses heading into the 2025 college football season.

McElroy notably omitted the Volunteers from his list but placed them in an "honorable mention" category, stating that he believed there was still room for the group to ascend into college football's best during the regular season. The former Alabama quarterback explained his rationale for the Volunteers' exclusion during his "Always College Football" show.

"I like their group collectively," said McElroy. "But, they don't have the complete game wrecker that they had a year ago."

McElroy also mentioned that injuries and departures in the Volunteers' secondary were currently an area of concern heading into the season. But stated that the surrounding talent on the roster could fill the void and maintain Tennessee's defensive production.

"Right now, I have Tennessee in a bit of a no-man's-land," said McElroy. "I think they could easily leap up, but they're going to have to answer some questions about availability before we can include them in our top 10 defenses in the country."

Given that the Volunteers' offense lost a ton of production from just a year ago, many are anticipating that Tennessee's defense will be the driving factor for the team's success in 2025. The Vols' 2025 season will begin in Atlanta when they face the Syracuse Orange on Saturday, August 30th. Kickoff for this game will begin at noon.

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