SEC Sports Information Directors pick Vols to finish 12th in the conference

The Tennessee Volunteers have been projected to finish 12th in the SEC in AL.com’s annual poll of the sports information directors. The rankings compile the polling results of every SID in the conference, similar to the coaches/AP poll you see during the season.

Here’s how the votes came out for the Vols.

Tennessee received 45 points, including two 13th-place votes, four 12th-place votes, one 11-place vote, one 10th-place vote, two-ninth-place votes and three eighth-place votes.

Only Arkansas and Vanderbilt ranked behind Tennessee. Last season, the Vols came in at 7th overall.

Of course, Alabama was projected to win the conference. Georgia checked in at No. 2, while Auburn came in at No. 3. LSU and Texas A&M rounded out the top five.

The Vols are looking to pick up the pieces from their worst season to date. The wheels fell off for Butch Jones, who failed to find a quarterback to replace Josh Dobbs. The injuries piled up in the end, forcing a brutal ending to the Jones era in Knoxville.

Now it’s up to Jeremy Pruitt to clean up the mess, who has come in with a more conventional, blue-collar approach. Here’s what AL.com had to say about the 2018 Vols.

Following a miserable end to Butch Jones’ tenure as coach, a bungled search for his successor ensued that made the once-vaunted Volunteers resemble a laughingstock. Eventually, Tennessee reeled in former Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt. Pruitt is charged with revitalizing the fallen program. But no one expects Tennessee to become a contender again in the near future.

AL.com singled out Marquez Callaway, Nigel Warrior and Trey Smith as impact players set to return.

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