Tennessee Athletics earns unique national honor
The Tennessee Vols athletic department earned a unique national honor this week. Tennessee came in at No. 1 in CBS Sports' annual "Best of College Sports" rankings. The Vols are just the second SEC program to ever top CBS Sports' list. Alabama was the only other SEC program in the top five (the Crimson Tide […]
The Tennessee Vols athletic department earned a unique national honor this week.
Tennessee came in at No. 1 in CBS Sports' annual "Best of College Sports" rankings.
The Vols are just the second SEC program to ever top CBS Sports' list.
Alabama was the only other SEC program in the top five (the Crimson Tide came in at No. 3).
"As we shared in Rise Glorious, our strategic plan for Tennessee Athletics, our vision for our entire department is to be leading the way in college sports and this honor is another example of the progress we are making," said Tennessee athletic director Danny White in a statement. "This is a credit to the outstanding efforts from all of our student-athletes, coaches and staff. It's certainly a great time to be on Rocky Top!"
Here's how the list was compiled (via CBS Sports): In 2013, CBS Sports began presenting its Best in College Sports award utilizing a weighted formula that recognizes sports with more broad interest. Every FBS program is rated in three sports—football, men's basketball and women's basketball—along with two "wild cards" among the school's most successful spectator sports: baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, gymnastics, lacrosse, hockey and wrestling.The weighted formula puts 2.5 times as much emphasis on football and 2.0 times as much on men's basketball compared to the rest of the sports. Teams that do not finish in the final AP Top 25 in football but play in a bowl are awarded 62.5 points (25 x 2.5). Those that make the men's NIT are given 20 points (10 x 2), while WNIT teams receive 10 points. For all titles settled via bracket, such as the NCAA Tournament, point totals are based on number of participants. All champions in the other sports receive 100 points for a national championship in the formula created by longtime CBS Sports producer J. Darin Darst.
Tennessee athletics have been on a roll since White took over as the program's athletic director in early 2021. And the Vols are showing no signs of slowing down. Softball just won a regular SEC season championship and the SEC Tournament, football is the best it's been in over two decades, baseball is becoming a post-season fixture in Omaha, the Lady Vols are coming off a Sweet 16 run, and men's basketball is routinely among the top programs in the nation.
There's still work to be done, but it's clear that White has the entire athletics department moving in the right direction.
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