Tennessee up to No. 3 in latest AP Poll

YOUR Tennessee Volunteers climbed up three spots in this week’s AP Poll and now sit as the No. 3 team in the country.

Of course, this jump follows the Vols’ 52-49 heart-attack inducing win over previously-ranked No. 3 Alabama (the Tide just switched spots with UT, dropping to No. 6.)

The Vols have just continued to win and continued to rise in the polls in the process. This isn’t SEC bias we’re looking at here: Tennessee has the proof in the pudding, and might even have cause to be ranked higher than No. 3. (Admittedly, that might be a stretch.)

UT is the only team in the country to beat fourtop-25 ranked teams (teams that were ranked in the top-25 the week the game was played) and just dropped a 50-spot on an Tide defense that was unanimously rated as one of the country’s best. Tennessee obliterated Alabama’s secondary and mostly neutralized a pass rush that includes arguably the best overall college football player in the country — Bama’s EDGE Will Anderson. The Vols’ 52 points were the most surrendered by Alabama since 1907.

From CBS’s Chip Patterson:

What Tennessee has undeniably showed is the most impressive win of any team that is still undefeated. Alabama lost but in no way did Bryce Young (shoulder), back in action for the first time since getting knocked out of the game against Arkansas two weeks ago, and the rest of the Tide appear unworthy of their own top-five status. The teams traded haymakers in one of college football’s modern epics, and that win for the Vols is stronger than anything on the profile for any of the other teams in the running for No. 1.

The AP top-two remain the same, with Georgia sticking at No. 1 after drubbing Vandy 55-0, and Ohio State stayed at No. 2 following their open date.

Tennessee gets a bit of a reprieve next week. with the UT Martin game approaching as the Vols’ homecoming. But then, UT gets 19th-ranked Kentucky, which WILL be a battle, as the Wildcats took last year’s beating extra-personal, at home before traveling to Athens to face UGA for what could potentially be a No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup with SEC East, SEC Championship and National Championship implications.