Where the Tennessee Vols fall in ESPN's final 2022 College Football Power Rankings

ESPN revealed their final 2022 College Football Power Rankings on Wednesday morning and it shouldn't be a surprise that they slighted the Tennessee Vols. Tennessee is ranked No. 6 in ESPN's power rankings, one spot behind the Alabama Crimson Tide. From ESPN: It might be premature to say that Tennessee is all the way back, […]

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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ESPN revealed their final 2022 College Football Power Rankings on Wednesday morning and it shouldn't be a surprise that they slighted the Tennessee Vols.

Tennessee is ranked No. 6 in ESPN's power rankings, one spot behind the Alabama Crimson Tide.

From ESPN:

It might be premature to say that Tennessee is all the way back, but the Vols made their biggest jump in two decades. They won 11 games for the first time since 2001, including a 31-14 win over Clemson in the Capital One Orange Bowl to cap the season. Josh Heupel's offense was once again electric (leading the country with an average of 46.1 points per game), and quarterback Hendon Hooker had a sensational senior season until he tore an ACL in the 63-38 loss at South Carolina. The blowout loss to the Gamecocks was inexplicable and cost the Vols a spot in the College Football Playoff. Even so, nobody would have predicted 11 wins in Heupel's second season, the big one a 52-49 thriller over Alabama that snapped a 15-game losing streak to the Tide.

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Tennessee linebacker Aaron Beasley (24) runs Pittsburgh wide receiver Jared Wayne (5) out of bounds during the first half of a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Pittsburgh Panthers in Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022.Tennpitt0910 00555

I don't understand how folks keep ranking Alabama over Tennessee when the Vols beat the Crimson Tide this season.

Tennessee also beat LSU by 27 points, a team that beat Alabama.

It feels like everyone is defining Tennessee by their 25-point loss to South Carolina, instead of what the Vols did the other 12 games of the season (even that 14-point loss to Georgia doesn't look so bad after the Bulldogs' 58-point win against TCU in the national championship game).

I know folks like to say that the "Bama Bias" isn't real. And most years, it's not — Alabama has earned the respect they've received.

Except for this season.

We've seen a two-loss Alabama team get the benefit of the doubt more than other two-loss programs this season. And because of that bias, Tennessee isn't getting the respect they deserve.

Featured image via Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

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