It laid dormant for more than a decade, but the Tennessee football program has maintained its status as one of the best in college football history according to one metric.

Using every final Associated Press Top 25 poll since its inception in 1936, College Football News recently developed a list of the best programs of all time and Tennessee landed in a respectable position at No. 10.

The rankings were determined by a point system in each final AP poll over the last 87 years with the No. 1 team and national champion earning a maximum of 25 points.

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Tennessee has twice earned final AP No. 1 billings, the first coming in 1951 following a 10-0 regular season in which the Vols recorded five shutout victories and outscored opponents 373-88.

In 1998, Tennessee completed a perfect 13-0 campaign, capped with a 23-16 win over No. 2 Florida State in the inaugural BCS National Championship Game in Tempe, Arizona.

Tennessee has finished ranked in the AP poll 45 times with 24 top 10 finishes.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: How it started: A look at Vols' preseason AP Top 25 history

Tennessee was one of nine current SEC programs in the top 25 with Alabama dethroning Oklahoma for the No. 1 spot. The Vols were the second highest ranked program.

LSU (11), Georgia (12), Auburn (14), Florida (15), Arkansas (20), Texas A&M (21) and Ole Miss (24) rounded out the rankings and future conference members Oklahoma and Texas took the No. 3 and No. 7 spots, respectively.

Coming off of 11-2 season in 2022, Tennessee debuted at No. 12 in the 2023 AP Top 25 preseason poll on Monday. It was the first time since 2016 that the Vols were ranked in the top 15 of the poll.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Tennessee football lands in top 10 of ESPN's SP+ rankings

Tennessee is in position to jump into the top 10 in the first few weeks of the season. The Vols open with Virginia at Nissan Stadium in Nashville on Sept. 2 and host Austin Peay in their home opener at Neyland Stadium on Sept. 9 before beginning SEC play at Florida on Sept. 16.

Tennessee and Virginia are slated for a noon ET kickoff on ABC.

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