Where the Tennessee Vols fall in ESPN's first 2023 SP+ rankings

We're still a little over six months away from the start of the 2023 college football season, but there are already plenty of preseason rankings. Most of those rankings are subjective — opinions of writers who cover the sport on a regular basis. ESPN's SP+ rankings, however, are a little different. The SP+ rankings, which […]

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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We're still a little over six months away from the start of the 2023 college football season, but there are already plenty of preseason rankings.

Most of those rankings are subjective — opinions of writers who cover the sport on a regular basis.

ESPN's SP+ rankings, however, are a little different.

The SP+ rankings, which are compiled by ESPN's Bill Connelly, use various metrics to determine where teams should be ranked. Specifically, Connelly uses returning production, recent recruiting, and recent history.

Here's an explanation of the SP+ rankings from Connelly:

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.

Vols
Oct 8, 2022; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Jabari Small (2) reacts to scoring a touchdown against the LSU Tigers during the first half at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Connelly revealed his early preseason 2023 SP+ rankings on Tuesday and he has the Tennessee Vols at No. 6.

Here's the full top 10:

  1. Georgia
  2. Ohio State
  3. Michigan
  4. Alabama
  5. Penn State
  6. Tennessee
  7. LSU
  8. Oregon
  9. Texas
  10. USC

Texas A&M, a team on the Vols' schedule in 2023 is at No. 17. Florida is at No. 20 and Kentucky is at No. 24.

The preseason AP Top 25 will likely have Tennessee a bit lower. I'm assuming voters will place the Vols between No. 10 and No. 15 because of the loss of Hendon Hooker, Jalin Hyatt, Darnell Wright, Byron Young, and Cedric Tillman (among others).

And that's fair. I don't think the Vols will mind proving themselves again in 2023. They seemed to play their best in 2022 before they were a top-ranked team.

As for the SP+ rankings, here's what Connelly says about Tennessee in 2023:

Who's ready to ride the Joe Milton roller coaster one last time?? After winning the starting job at both Michigan (in 2020) and Tennessee (in 2021) thanks to the rocket launcher attached to his right shoulder, Milton ended up backing up Hendon Hooker for most of the past two seasons in Knoxville. And if he is finally able to live up to hype, Tennessee could do more than that. The Vols are replacing Hooker and star receivers Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman but return most of the defense and plenty of big-play weapons, and SP+ is giving Josh Heupel's squad the benefit of the doubt.

The SP+ rankings have Tennessee with the No. 2 offensive rating and, surprisingly, the No. 32 defensive rating.

Almost exactly a year ago, Connelly revealed his 2022 preseason SP+ rankings and Tennessee was at No. 9.

A lot of folks felt that was way too high for a team coming off a 7-6 season.

But that No. 9 ranking ended up underselling the Vols a bit as Tennessee finished as the No. 6 team in the nation in 2022.

So I'd say these first SP+ rankings bode well for the Volunteers in Josh Heupel's third season leading Tennessee's football program.

Featured image via Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

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