Remember earlier this year when former Tennessee Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker told reporters at the NFL Draft Combine that UT doesn't get any respect? 

Well, he wasn't wrong. 

“We play with a chip on our shoulder at Tennessee. We get a lot of disrespect.” — Hendon Hooker at the combine (?: College Football Playbook) pic.twitter.com/hwOXWCAo8l

— zach ragan (@zachTNT) March 7, 2023

Tennessee is off to a 4-1 start after starting the season as a team that was ranked by most outlets as at least a top 15 program. 

That one loss, however, has led to media outlets like The Athletic dropping the Vols significantly in their rankings. 

The Athletic released their updated rankings of all 133 college football teams and they have Tennessee at No. 29.

That's obviously a bit low for a team that is 4-1 and just beat South Carolina by 21 points. 

But what makes it even worse is that a 3-2 Florida team is ranked at No. 28. 

I know Florida beat Tennessee head to head, but this is still a bizarre ranking. 

The only way it makes sense to drop Tennessee all the way to No. 29 is if The Athletic views Florida as a "bad" team. But that's clearly not the case since they have Florida at No. 28. 

Even worse is the fact that Tennessee was No. 29 the previous week and they moved up zero spots after winning a game against a quality SEC opponent. 

It seems like the Vols are always going to have to work a little harder to prove themselves to the national media. 

Why a player that wasn’t even on the field also deserves credit for Spencer Rattler’s pick 6 against Tennessee

It’s always a team effort