The Tennessee Volunteers returned to the top five on Sunday afternoon in the aftermath of their 25-15 win over the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday night in Norman, Oklahoma.
Well, they did in one of the polls, at least. Tennessee jumped Ole Miss and moved up to #5 in the AP Poll.
BREAKING: Week 5 College Football AP Poll https://t.co/DyYJiXSze3 pic.twitter.com/MMA9XWSCmx
— On3 (@On3sports) September 22, 2024
Tennessee remained at #6 behind the Rebels in the coaches poll.
NEW: Week 5 College Football Coaches Poll
Top 25: https://t.co/NAZzNcOdKQ pic.twitter.com/8bSffJSJHd
— On3 (@On3sports) September 22, 2024
The Sooners took a bit of a spill on Sunday. OU dropped from 15 to 21 in the AP poll and from 13 to 18 in the coaches poll.
The Vols jump of Ole Miss is warranted. Tennessee was in complete control from the start until the end. At least its defense was, with the offense catching up later. The 25-15 win (which wasn’t as close as the scoreboard indicated) also saw Tennessee go into a completely conservative shell on offense for most of the second half and still win by double digits on the road over a top 15 team.
The Rebels, on the other hand, finished up their incredibly soft non-conference slate 4-0 with a 52-13 win over Georgia Southern. The Vols are on a bye next weekend, while Ole Miss opens up its SEC slate at home against Kentucky on Saturday. We’ll see if a convincing win could put the Rebels back ahead of UT next Sunday.
A big SEC mover was Missouri, who fell from 7 to 11 in the AP poll and 8 to 11 in the coaches poll after surviving Vanderbilt 30-27 in double overtime. The Tigers will look for a better effort on Saturday at Texas A&M.
Tennessee’s next opponent is Arkansas in Fayetteville on October 5.