Midway through the regular season, Tennessee owns a 5-1 overall record and 2-1 mark in SEC play.

This is good enough to be considered No. 17 in the AP Poll and No. 15 in the Coaches Poll.

While those are decided by ballots, other rankings use formulas and analytics to rank teams. Here is where the Vols stand on a few of those lists.

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One of the most popular analytic-based rankings is SP+ by Bill Connelly of ESPN. In his model, he has the Vols ranked as the No. 12 team in the country.

This sits Tennessee behind just Georgia and Alabama for third in the SEC.

Connelly's SP+ rankings also break down the team by offense, defense and special teams.

On offense, the Vols are at No. 18 in the country with a 35.7 rating. On defense, they clock in at No. 15 with an 18.1 mark. The special teams unit is ranked 64th.

Overall, Tennessee earns a score of 17.6 so far. To crack the top 10, it'll need to rise to a 20.1 rating. Top-ranked Michigan is at 25.1.

Football Power Index uses a formula that repeatedly simulates games to get results. While this obviously isn't always correct, it is supposed to determine who will typically win in a neutral site match.

Tennessee is ranked No. 16 with a score of 15.5 in this program. This sits the team behind Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss for fifth in the SEC.

FPI goes deeper with it's projections, as well. The simulation has the Vols finishing with an average of 8.9 wins this season and 3.2 losses. This includes a just 1.6% chance to win the remainder of the games on the table.

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Although Tennessee is just at five wins so far, it gives the team a 100% chance to win six games and become bowl eligible. To dethrone Georgia and win the division, it is given only a 10.8% chance.To win the entire conference, the odds drop to just 3.8%.

Outside of the conference, the odds of the Vols being one of four team selected for the playoffs are 1.4%. To win the semifinal match and make the national title game is 0.6% probability. To go all the way and bring home the first championship since 1998, FPI gives just a 0.2% chance.

Tennessee is one of just 17 teams FPI gives a shot to go all the way, though.

Team Rating Adjusted for Conference and Roster is a ranking that accounts for exactly what it's name is. In the latest update to the TRACR, Tennessee comes in at No. 24 in the country.

This slots the Vols behind Georgia, Texas A&M, Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss and Florida for seventh in the 14-team conference. This is much lower than what most models think of Tennessee.

A reason for this suboptimal view is the 43rd-ranked offense the Vols have according to TRACR. The defense clocks in at No. 16, though.

The model also projects Tennessee to finish with 8.9 wins and 3.1 losses. It gives the team a 3.1% chance to win-out and 100% chance to win six games.

The Vols are also given a score of an 8.4 for playoff potential which is the 21st highest in the country.

KFord is much more optimistic on the start of Tennessee's season than TRACR. This metric is purely forward-looking based and not a judge on a team's current resume, though.

The model puts the Vols at No. 15 in its power rankings. This is fifth in the SEC behind Georgia, Alabama, LSU and Ole Miss.

KFord also does a 'most deserving' ranking. This is a results-oriented metric that looks at how the team has fared on its schedule compared to its expected results.

In this category, Tennessee comes in at No. 21 after jumping 12 spots with the win over Texas A&M. This is good for sixth in the conference with Missouri also above the Vols.

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