With the college football season kicking off in less than a month, the annual AP Poll was released on Monday at noon ET.
After finishing at No. 6 a year ago, Tennessee opened at No. 12 ahead of the 2023 campaign.
Let's dive into the details of the poll and where individual voters ranked the Vols.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
One voter ranked Tennessee as high as No. 7
With the Vols coming in at No. 12, some voters placed Tennessee in the top 10 while others let the program slide into the teens.
The voter who was the highest on the Vols was Jordan Crammer of WNCN-TV — based out of Raleigh, North Carolina. Crammer is a graduate of West Virginia but spent time in Knoxville covering Tennessee athletics for WATE. She ultimately placed Tennessee at No. 7 marking the highest any voter slotted the Vols.
In total, 13 of the 63 voters gave Tennessee a top 10 spot. Coming in right behind Crammer, Mike Barber, Pete Martini and Reece Davis all put the Vols at No. 8, as well.
Two voters ranked the Vols as low as No. 17
While some placed Tennessee in the top 10, others seemingly aren't as impressed by the Vols' great season in 2022. In total, two voters had Tennessee outside the top 15 with both ranking the program at No. 17.
The pair of voters were John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader and Mike Niziolek of the Herald-Times in Bloomington, Illinois.
Clay began covering Kentucky football in 1987 and has covered 20 Final Fours and 37 consecutive Kentucky Derbys during his time in Lexington. Niziolek has spent time covering a handful of teams but typically has stayed within the mid-west.
Neither appear to be confident that the Vols will have as successful of a season as 2022, though.
MORE FROM VOLREPORT: How it started: A look at Vols’ preseason AP Top 25 history
How notable voters ranked Tennessee
While many voters' day jobs are spent covering a specific team, some voters are known on a national level. This includes Reece Davis of ESPN, Adam Zucker of CBS and Brett McMurphy of Stadium.
Of these notable voters, Davis was the highest on Tennessee. He slotted the Vols at No. 8 in his poll making them the fourth-highest ranked team in the SEC.
Zucker also placed Tennessee in the top 10. His ranking of the Vols at No. 10 fell in line with the recent Coaches Poll and also left the team fourth in the conference.
McMurphy is lower than most on Tennessee, though. He slotted the Vols at No. 15. However, this still left them at fourth in the SEC as he is seemingly not confident in the conference's strength as a whole this year.
–––––
– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.
– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.
– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @TMansfieldMedia, @ByNoahTaylor, @RealTBannerman, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media, @TylerIvens, @Hunter_DeNote.
–––––
