Vols officially accomplish a feat that hasn't happened at Tennessee in nearly a quarter of a century
The Tennessee Vols have officially accomplished a feat that hasn't happened on Rocky Top in nearly 25 years. On Tuesday, the morning after Ohio State's win against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff Championship game, the final AP Top 25 poll of the season was released. Tennessee came in at No. 9 in the […]
The Tennessee Vols have officially accomplished a feat that hasn't happened on Rocky Top in nearly 25 years.
On Tuesday, the morning after Ohio State's win against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff Championship game, the final AP Top 25 poll of the season was released.
Tennessee came in at No. 9 in the final AP rankings.
Tennessee's top 10 ranking in the final AP Top 25 poll of the 2024 season is the Vols' second top 10 finish in the last three seasons (Tennessee finished No. 6 in the final AP Top 25 in 2022).
The last time the Vols had two top 10 finishes in a three year span came in 1999 and 2001 under Phillip Fulmer.
Tennessee finished No. 9 in 1999 after losing to the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Fiesta Bowl.
The Vols finished No. 4 in 2001 following their blowout win against the Michigan Wolverines in the Citrus Bowl. The 2001 season was also the last time Tennessee finished in the top 10 prior to the 2022 season.
Additionally, Tennessee has now finished the season as a ranked team for three straight seasons for the first time since 1997 to 1999 (the Vols finished unranked in 2000 in the AP Top 25 poll).
It's pretty remarkable what Josh Heupel, his players, and his staff have accomplished over the last few years.
The Vols are legitimate contenders again thanks to Heupel. Tennessee still has work to do — it's clear they need to continue adding elite talent to the roster — but the current state of UT football is a far cry from what it was just five short years ago.
It's a pretty good time to be a Tennessee fan.
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