Tennessee’s dominating 2024 debut, coupled with some week 1 shakeups, helped move it up in the polls this week.
The Vols, who looked the part in a 69-3 rout of Chattanooga last Saturday, climbed one spot to No. 14 in the first regular season Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday.
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Tennessee (1-0), which began the season ranked No. 15, is the sixth highest ranked SEC team behind top-ranked Georgia, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Alabama, No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 9 Missouri after rolling in their season openers.
LSU fell to No. 18 following its loss to Southern California Sunday night, partly allowing the Vols move up. Texas A&M dropped out of the ranking after a loss to Notre Dame.
Tennessee looked the part in week 1 with quarterback Nico Iamaleava leading a stellar offensive performance that included a record 314 passing yards in one half and more than 700 yards of total offense.
The Vols will face what is expected to be a sterner test on Saturday in a neutral site game against No. No. 24 NC State (1-0) in the Duke's Mayo Classic at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Everything Josh Heupel, Tennessee players said about NC State
The Wolfpack, who entered the season ranked, saw no movement in the poll after struggling in their season opener against Western Carolina before pulling away late to win 38-21.
"Defensively, (NC State) has been really good and it will be a great test for us up front and on the perimeter and at quarterback," Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said Monday. "And offensively, they’ve got a really experienced quarterback, got playmakers around him and the special teams are really good, too. Huge test for us this week. One that we’re excited about."
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