KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee is ranked at No. 10 in the Preseason Amway Coaches Poll, which was released on Thursday.
The Vols are in the top 10 for the first time since Oct. 29, 2006. Tennessee was also one of four teams to receive a first-place vote. No. 1 Alabama leads the way with 55 first-place votes, No. 2 Clemson has seven and UT and No. 4 Florida State have one vote each.
UT starts the season ranked for the second-straight year. The Vols opened the 2015 season at No. 25 in the Amway Coaches Poll and were ranked No. 23 in the final poll.
Tennessee is the third-highest ranked team in the SEC’s six teams in the poll, behind only No. 1 Alabama and No. 6 LSU and ahead of No. 12 Ole Miss, No. 16 Georgia and No. 25 Florida. The SEC had four more teams receive votes in Texas A&M (37), Arkansas (34), Mississippi State (19), Auburn (17).
UT, which was picked to win the SEC Eastern Division by the media at last month’s 2016 SEC Media Days, is coming off of an impressive 9-4 season in 2015, which it capped with a 45-6 win over Northwestern in the Outback Bowl. The Vols closed the year with a six-game winning streak and posted their first back-to-back bowl wins since winning the 1996 and 1997 Florida Citrus Bowls. Tennessee produced the second-best team rushing total in program history with 2,908 yards. The Big Orange returns 19 starters with nine on offense and eight on defense.
Tennessee opens the 2016 season onThursday, Sept. 1, at home against Appalachian State. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
The Amway Board of Coaches is made up of 64 head coaches at Bowl Subdivision schools. All are members of the American Football Coaches Association. The board for the 2016 season: Chris Ash, Rutgers; Dino Babers, Syracuse; David Bailiff, Rice; David Beaty, Kansas; Bret Bielema, Arkansas; John Bonamego, Central Michigan; Terry Bowden, Akron; Matt Campbell, Iowa State; Ron Caragher, San Jose State; Rod Carey, Northern Illinois; Paul Chryst, Wisconsin; Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan; David Cutcliffe, Duke; DJ Durkin, Maryland; Larry Fedora, North Carolina; Jimbo Fisher, Florida State; James Franklin, Penn State; Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech; Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State; Bryan Harsin, Boise State; Clay Helton, Southern California; Tom Herman, Houston; Doc Holliday, Marshall; Skip Holtz, Louisiana Tech; Joey Jones, South Alabama, Brian Kelly, Notre Dame; Sean Kugler, Texas-El Paso; Mike Leach, Washington State; Lance Leipold, Buffalo; Seth Littrell, North Texas; Rocky Long, San Diego State; Mike MacIntyre, Colorado; Gus Malzahn, Auburn; Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio); Doug Martin, New Mexico State; Derek Mason, Vanderbilt; Urban Meyer, Ohio State; Trent Miles, Georgia State; Philip Montgomery, Tulsa; Scottie Montgomery, East Carolina; Chad Morris, Southern Methodist; Dan Mullen, Mississippi State; Mike Norvell, Memphis; Gary Patterson, TCU; Chris Petersen, Washington; Brian Polian, Nevada; Mark Richt, Miami (Fla.); Mike Riley, Nebraska; Rich Rodriguez, Arizona; Nick Saban, Alabama; Tony Sanchez, UNLV; Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Frank Solich, Ohio; Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee State; Bob Stoops, Oklahoma; Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M; Dabo Swinney, Clemson; Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati; Ron Turner, Florida International; Matt Wells, Utah State; Kyle Whittingham, Utah; Kevin Wilson, Indiana; Everett Withers, Texas State.
Preseason Amway Coaches Poll
1. Alabama, 14-1, 1585 (55)
2. Clemson, 14-1, 1524 (7)
3. Oklahoma, 11-2, 1398
4. Florida State, 10-3, 1351 (1)
5. Ohio State, 12-1, 1321
6. LSU, 9-3, 1241
7. Stanford, 12-2, 1149
8. Michigan, 10-3, 1062
9. Notre Dame, 10-3, 1034
10. TENNESSEE, 9-4, 960 (1)
11. Michigan State, 12-2, 901
12. Ole Miss, 10-3, 792
13. Houston, 13-1, 668
14. TCU, 11-2, 649
15. Iowa, 12-2, 579
16. Georgia, 10-3, 525
17. USC, 8-6, 468
18. Washington, 7-6, 454
19. Oklahoma State, 10-3, 426
20. North Carolina, 11-3, 422
21. Baylor, 10-3, 383
22. Oregon, 9-4, 361
23. Louisville, 8-5, 331
24. UCLA, 8-5, 296
25. Florida, 10-4, 245
Listed as team, 2015 record, points (first-place votes)