Tennessee is back in the Associated Press preseason Top 25, and the Vols are starting 2026 at No. 20.
That slot puts Josh Heupel’s team in familiar company even after an 8-5 finish last season. Tennessee was also ranked No. 18 in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll earlier this month, so the AP voters have the Vols squarely in the top 20 as the new season approaches later this month.
The placement comes with a bit of a reset built in. Tennessee enters the year with a first-time starting quarterback and a rebuilt defense under first-year coordinator Jim Knowles, but it also brings back eight starters from what was the SEC’s highest-scoring offense in 2025. The preseason quarterback battle is still unsettled, with sophomore George MacIntyre and freshman Faizon Brandon competing for the job.
Heupel, now in his sixth season in Knoxville, carries a 45-20 record at Tennessee and has won 73 games in eight seasons as a head coach. That total ranks fourth nationally among active FBS coaches since the start of the 2018 season.
The preseason ranking also reflects how Tennessee’s stock has moved over the last year. The Vols opened last season at No. 24 in the AP poll, climbed as high as No. 11, then slid after losses at Alabama and to Oklahoma. They finished unranked, breaking a run of three straight top-20 final rankings: No. 9 in 2024, No. 17 in 2023 and No. 6 in 2022.
Tennessee had rarely been absent from the AP poll before that late-2025 drop. Since winning in overtime at Pittsburgh in the second game of the 2022 season, the Vols had been unranked only once in the AP Top 25, late in 2023, before missing the final three polls last season.
There’s no easing into the schedule either. Tennessee is one of nine SEC teams in the preseason AP Top 25 and will play four teams ranked in the top 13: No.
5 Texas, No. 8 Texas A&M, No.
11 LSU and No. 13 Alabama.
ESPN’s Football Power Index lists Tennessee with the 14th-toughest schedule, and that slate also includes Georgia Tech, South Carolina and Auburn among the teams receiving votes outside the top 25.
Heupel has also pointed to changes off the field as part of the program’s push for a quick rebound. Tennessee hired Knowles to run the defense, brought in multiple assistant coaches and staffers with ties to him, and added new Director of Football Sports Performance Derek Owings from national champion Indiana. Heupel has said the offseason work under Owings produced impressive results.
Tennessee opens the season against Furman at Neyland Stadium on September 5 at 3:30 p.m. on SEC Network+/ESPN+.
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Tennessee Alabama Rivalry Just Got A Tradition Vols Fans Will Love
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Iowas QB Battle May Be Swinging After One Telling Scrimmage
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One name drawing more attention is Faizon Brandon, the true freshman who has apparently made his case in recent work against George MacIntyre. Recent reporting pointed to Brandon landing several deep throws in a scrimmage, the kind of flash that can speed up a staffs thinking even when the race is far from officially over. If Tennessee is leaning toward getting clarity sooner rather than later, this battle may be nearing a decision point. [Read more 🡒]