Tennessee bounced back in a big way to close out its regular season slate at Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Even without quarterback Hendon Hooker — who suffered a season-ending ACL tear last week in a loss to South Carolina — as well as a plethora of missing pieces in the secondary, the Vols rolled past the Commodores behind Joe Milton III, an explosive run game and a strong defense to win 56-0 at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville.

With previously one-loss and seventh-ranked Clemson losing to South Carolina and No. 6 LSU being upset at Texas A&M, Tennessee's dominating performance helped it move up in the Associated Press Top 25 poll on Sunday, jumping two spots from No. 9 to No. 7.

The Vols (10-2, 6-2 SEC) are the third-highest ranked SEC team behind No. 1 Georgia and No. 6 Alabama.

At this point in the season with only conference championship games standing in-between now and bowl selection next Sunday, the College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings on Tuesday could be a major indicator on the Vols' postseason placement.

As of now, the Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl are all in play for Tennessee.

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