Where Tennessee football is ranked in Phil Steele’s preseason 1-138 ranking

Tennessee football is ranked No. 18 in Phil Steele’s preseason ranking of all 138 Division I teams. Texas is the top-ranked opponent on Tennessee’s schedule, with Steele having the Longhorns at No. 5. Among SEC teams, Georgia is the highest-ranked at No. 2. Oklahoma is just behind Texas at No. 7, then No. 8 Ole Miss. Alabama is No. 11 and Texas A&M is No. 12. South Carolina is No. 16, LSU is No. 21 and Florida is No. 23. Auburn is No. 29, Missouri is No. 33 and Vanderbilt is No. 34. Mississippi State is No. 51, Arkansas is No. 55 and Kentucky is No. 56. Georgia Tech, who hosts Tennessee at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Week 2, is ranked No. 44. Kickoff times, windows for Tennessee games this season Kickoff times for the first four games of the season have been set: Furman, 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+; Georgia Tech, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN; Kennesaw State, 7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network; Texas, Noon ET, ABC. Kickoff windows have been announced for the other eight SEC games. The three windows are early (Noon-1 p.m. Eastern Time), afternoon (3:30-4:30 p.m. ET), night (6-8 p.m. ET or flex (3:30-4:30 or 6-8 p.m. ET). The Auburn game on October 3, the Alabama game on October 17 and the LSU game on November 21 are both in the flex kickoff window. The Arkansas game on October 10 — Tennessee’s first SEC road game of the season — and the game at Texas A&M on November 14 are also in the flex window. The road game at South Carolina on October 24 is in the afternoon window and the Kentucky game on November 7 and the regular-season finale at Vanderbilt on November 28 are both in the night window. Tennessee is ranked No. 16 in the first College Football Power Index update from ESPN for the 2026 season. The model gives the Vols a 20.5% chance to make the College Football Playoff, but projects a 7-5 record. Ohio State is No. 1 in the first FPI ranking, ahead of No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Oregon and No. 5 Georgia. Then it’s No. 6 Indiana, No. 7 Miami, No. 8 Alabama, No. 9 LSU and No. 10 Texas Tech. Also ranked ahead of the Vols are No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 12 Oklahoma, No. 13 aUSC, No. 14 Ole Miss and No. 15 Michigan. Tennessee’s win-loss projection in the FPI is 7.3-4.7. It gives the Vols an 80.8% chance to win six or more games, along with the 20.5% chance to make the 12-team playoff. The Vols have the 14th-toughest schedule in college football, according to the FPI’s strength of schedule ranking.