ESPN College GameDay host doesn’t think highly of the Tennessee Vols based on his AP Top 25 ballot

The Tennessee Vols will open the 2025 college football season at No. 24 in the preseason AP Top 25 rankings. Tennessee may have been ranked higher in the AP Top 25 poll that was released on Monday if not for voters like ESPN’s Rece Davis. Davis, who hosts College GameDay on ESPN each Saturday during […]

Zach Ragan Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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The Tennessee Vols will open the 2025 college football season at No. 24 in the preseason AP Top 25 rankings.

Tennessee may have been ranked higher in the AP Top 25 poll that was released on Monday if not for voters like ESPN’s Rece Davis.

Davis, who hosts College GameDay on ESPN each Saturday during the season, didn’t have Tennessee among his top 25 teams

Here’s Davis’ ballot:

  1. Clemson
  2. Penn State
  3. Texas
  4. LSU
  5. Ohio State
  6. Notre Dame
  7. Alabama
  8. Georgia
  9. Oregon
  10. Arizona State
  11. Illinois
  12. Miami (FL)
  13. Baylor
  14. SMU
  15. Florida
  16. Iowa State
  17. Texas Tech
  18. Kansas State
  19. Oklahoma
  20. Indiana
  21. Michigan
  22. Boise State
  23. Texas A&M
  24. TCU
  25. Toledo

Preseason rankings are mostly a guessing game, and some good teams are inevitably left out of the top 25 every year. So there’s no need for Vols fans to dunk on Davis for leaving out Tennessee (wait until after the season, if the Vols have a good year, to do that).

Tennessee seems to play its best when everyone is doubting them. So maybe the “slight” from Davis is a good thing for the Vols in 2025.

Tennessee Vols

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