The Tennessee Vols opened the 2025 college football season with an impressive 45-26 win against the Syracuse Orange.

Tennessee put up 495 total yards of offense in the convincing win.

Despite the dominant performance against an ACC team that won 10 games last season, the Vols rose only two spots in the new AP Top 25 poll, going from No. 24 to No. 22.

The embarrassing part is that Alabama, which lost its season opener 31-17 to Florida State, is ranked one spot above Tennessee at No. 21.

I mean, what are the AP voters doing?

Alabama lost by 14 points to an ACC team that won just two games last season. Now, if you want to say that last season is last season, and it doesn’t matter how many games Florida State or Syracuse won in 2024, then that’s fine. I’m good with that argument. But what has Alabama done this season to deserve to be ranked No. 21?

The answer is: absolutely nothing.

Alabama is ranked No. 21 solely because of its reputation — the Crimson Tide certainly didn’t earn that ranking.

Nonsense like this is why Tennessee fans, for the most part, are so down on the national media. The Vols seemingly never get any respect, while programs like Alabama consistently receive the benefit of the doubt.

The good news for Vols fans, though, is that this just adds to the chip that’s already on Tennessee’s shoulder. The Vols have made it clear they’re aware that no one believes in them this season, and being ranked below 0-1 Alabama will only reinforce that feeling in the locker room.

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One of the biggest surprises in the Tennessee Vols’ 45–26 win over Syracuse was the absence of true freshman offensive lineman David Sanders Jr. Sanders was a late scratch after getting banged up in practice last week. With Sanders sidelined, Jesse Perry moved from right guard to right tackle. Arizona transfer Wendell Moe slid from […]

Zach Ragan