Tennessee Vols achieved something impressive in the polls that no other SEC school did in 2024
The Tennessee Volunteers had a solid season in 2024, finishing at #9 in the final AP poll and #8 in the final coaches poll after participating in the school's first ever College Football Playoff. However, the Vols also did something in 2024 that no other team in the SEC did – finished higher in the […]
The Tennessee Volunteers had a solid season in 2024, finishing at #9 in the final AP poll and #8 in the final coaches poll after participating in the school's first ever College Football Playoff.
However, the Vols also did something in 2024 that no other team in the SEC did – finished higher in the polls than where they started. Indeed, during a season of absolute flameouts, Josh Heupel kept the Vols afloat and in the heart of the playoff race the entire season.
Tennessee started off the season at #15 in both the AP and coaches polls in August. That had them good for the seventh-best rankings among SEC schools. Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, Alabama, Missouri, and LSU all sat above Tennessee.
By the end of the season, LSU was out of the rankings, Alabama and Missouri were double digit spaces below their starting points, and Ole Miss and Georgia were down. Texas started and finished at 4.
That speaks as much as anything else as to overcoming expectations in 2024. It also speaks to the great job the Vols did in handling adversity on a week-to-week basis. While Ole Miss was getting clipped by Kentucky at home, Alabama was getting blown out at Oklahoma, or Missouri was losing by 30+ points on the road (twice), the Vols simply took care of the business that they were supposed to take care of, week after week.
The SEC undoubtedly got hit with a dose of reality in 2024, struggling overall without any clearly elite team. But it's still the SEC. It's at the top of the pile, and the Vols were the biggest positive surprise of the entire bunch in 2024.
It's not a playoff win, but it's something Vol fans can hang their hat on this offseason as Heupel works to get his team ready to take that next step in 2025.
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