Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt thinks Tennessee is one of the best teams in the country following the Vols’ 26-10 win over Alabama.

Klatt revealed his new top 10 after a wild weekend of upsets and he has Tennessee at No. 8.

Part of the reason Klatt has the Vols ranked that high is because he’s not seeing Tennessee as an up-tempo team who just tries to outscore everyone.

Instead, Klatt sees a team that is dominant on defense and doesn’t have to rely on tempo or explosive pass plays to win games.

“I think we may have been underrating Tennessee a little bit,” said Klatt. “(Vols RB) DeSean Bishop was awesome — 32 carries, 159 yards, and two touchdowns. … Tennessee was able to do that even with struggles at the quarterback position. So it’s not like you’re sitting there as a defense and you’re threatened in the pass game, and you’re like, ‘Well, we just can’t commit resources to stopping the run because of this pass game.’ It’s not like Tennessee is like that right now. At times in the past, they have been with Josh Heupel’s offense and the deep choice offense. That’s not how I feel about the Volunteers right now, and yet they’re still able to go 32 carries, 159 yards grinded out, and two touchdowns.”

“And then that defense, Jim Knowles didn’t just sack Keelon Russell five times — they’re actually the nation’s leader in sacks,” continued Klatt. “So everyone that plays Tennessee is gonna have to deal with Tennessee. And now they’re only a one-loss team.

“So here we go with Tennessee. They almost beat Texas. I think people fail to realize that, and we kind of pass that off as Texas was beating Texas. But this defense is pretty good. Not even just pretty good — I think this defense is an elite defense in college football. Tennessee has an elite defense. So where are they in my top 10? Yes, they’re inside of my top 10. I’ve got Tennessee at No. 8. They’re a one-loss team. That’s a huge win over Bama. They can run it. They can play defense. They can get after the quarterback. Those things travel. Those things last. Tennessee is at No. 8, and they might be making the playoffs for the second time in three years.”

There’s still a lot of football left to be played this season, and the Vols have some tough tests remaining (starting this weekend at South Carolina). But Tennessee has absolutely put itself in the driver’s seat for a spot in the playoff.