ESPN's SP+ rankings are expecting a big year from the Tennessee Vols in 2022.

Entering the 2022 season, ESPN's SP+ rankings have Tennessee as the No. 9 team in the nation (and the No. 4 team in the SEC).

Here's the top 15.

The SP+ rankings are compiled by ESPN's Bill Connelly using various data points, including returning production, recent recruiting, and recent history.

Here's a note about the Rankings from Connelly:

A reminder on SP+: It's a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. It is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football, not a résumé ranking, and, along those same lines, these projections aren't intended to be a guess at what the AP Top 25 will look like at the end of the year. These are simply early offseason power rankings based on the information we have been able to gather to date.

These rankings are supposed to be as objective as possible (which is obviously tough with any sort of rankings).

I considered the SP+ rankings to be the best indicator of future success. That doesn't mean these rankings are perfect — college football can still be unpredictable. But I think they're a much better guide than rankings from writers/coaches.

Does that mean the Vols are going to finish in the top 10 this season?

Not necessarily — we have no idea how the 2022 season will play out.

But these rankings show us that it's not as unlikely as some might think.

Tennessee is clearly moving in the right direction under head coach Josh Heupel. These rankings confirm that. The Vols, however, still have a long way to go. And Heupel knows that as much as anyone.

Featured image via Tennessee Athletic Communications