Tennessee was revealed as the No. 20 team in the AP Top 25 poll and ESPN immediately took a loud shot at the Vols on national TV
Shots were fired at the Tennessee Volunteers on The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN on Monday afternoon.
The 2026 preseason AP Top 25 poll was revealed on Monday and the Tennessee Vols came in at No. 20.
This is about what we were expecting based on some of the “way-too-early” preseason polls — many of which are published by writers who have a vote in the AP Top 25 poll — that we saw throughout the spring and summer.
Tennessee has a lot of talent — the Vols are reportedly spending somewhere between $35 and $40 million on their 2026 roster — but there are plenty of questions, too (such as the starting quarterback and the defense under new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles).
So I think No. 20 feels about right.
ESPN’s Heather Dinich, on the other hand, does not agree.
Dinich said on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday that she can’t believe Tennessee is even ranked.
“I can’t believe Tennessee is even ranked,” said Dinich. “Why is Tennessee ranked? Let alone at No. 20. I mean, they better find a quarterback and find some answers fast. I have so many questions about them. Not to say they can’t do it, but in the preseason, based on answers and not questions, I don’t know why the Vols are in there.”
I don’t know why Dinich is so incredulous that Tennessee is ranked. I mean, yeah, she’s right that there are some big questions surrounding the Vols, but that’s true of most teams entering the season.
The transfer portal era has made it tough to know what you’re getting year to year from teams. Of course everyone feels good about teams like Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia, and Texas — though I don’t get how anyone can claim to know which of those teams is the best when none of them have played a down of football yet. But outside of the top 10 or so teams, there’s a logjam of teams with question marks.
I don’t think there’s a single team ranked below Tennessee that you can make a legitimate argument is clearly better than the Vols to the point where it’s a crime they’re ranked behind UT.
(Clemson is the first team out of the Top 25 and Dinich said she thinks they need to play their way in, so I’m not sure what she would actually change).
Dinich, by the way, also said she thinks Alabama is ranked too high at No. 13 because of their question marks.
I think the preseason polls are silly. I don’t see the point in doing them before we’ve seen any of these teams play. They’re just guesses by people who haven’t even seen most of these teams practice.
But if we’re going to do them, then someone has to be ranked and fill out the No. 10 through No. 25 slots. And I don’t think there are a bunch of unranked teams that are getting disrespected by being left out (sorry, Florida).
