Tennessee Football Receives New AP Poll Ranking Following Bye Week

The Tennessee Volunteers receive a new football ranking ahead of the game against the Kentucky Wildcats.

Tennessee tight end DaSaahn Brame (7) carries the ball during a college football game against South Carolina at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C., on Oct. 24, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Tennessee Volunteers were inactive on Saturday, as this was their annual bye week, as they had played eight straight games without a break, which meant that the much-needed break was finally in place. The Vols had the bye week ahead of their game on Saturday, which is set to be against the Kentucky Wildcats, who are led by first-year head coach Will Stein, who was the former offensive coordinator for the Oregon Ducks.

Stein and his Wildcats team were just one of the many teams in the SEC that joined Tennessee in the bye week, which means that there weren't many changes in the rankings for some of these teams.

However, seven top 25 teams were defeated on Saturday, which left some room for growth for some of these SEC teams and, of course, some of the teams on the outside looking in. Only one team in front of the Tennessee Volunteers was defeated, as the Ohio State Buckeyes (previously ranked No. 2 on Saturday) were defeated by the unranked USC Trojans by a score of 30-18. In some situations, this would mean that the Vols would move up, but with this being the first loss for the Buckeyes, and the Vols simply being too far back for this to make sense, it was known that the Vols wouldn't move up due to this.

Tennessee Receives Their New Ranking

Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel during a high school football game between Baylor and Knoxville Catholic at Covenant Heath Park in Knoxville, Tenn., on Oct. 30, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The remainder of the teams who lost inside the top 25 were ranked behind the Vols, which didn't help the Tennessee football team move up, as they received their new ranking on Sunday, as they await the next game that they are set to play. This means that the Tennessee football program is ranked as the No. 16 team in the country. This means that the Vols didn't gain a single position, but they also didn't lose a position in the bye week, which keeps them stationary for the upcoming game against their rivals.

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