Where Tennessee ranks in college football polls after loss to South Carolina

Tennessee football dropped six spots in the US LBM Coaches Poll after a heartbreaking 27-26 loss to South Carolina in Week 8 of the 2026 season.

The Vols are ranked No. 17 in the coaches poll. Tennessee is No. 16 in the AP Top 25.

Tennessee (6-2, 3-2 SEC) enters an open week. It will play No. 8 Kentucky (7-1, 5-1) on Nov. 7 (time TBD) at Neyland Stadium.

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College football rankings after Week 8

US LBM Coaches Poll

First-place votes in parenthesis

1. Miami (67)
2. Ohio State (6)
3. Georgia
4. Indiana
5. Utah
6. Notre Dame
7. UCLA (1)
8. Kentucky
9. BYU
10. Alabama
11. Texas
12. Ole Miss
13. LSU
14. Texas Tech
15. Wake Forest
16. SMU
17. Tennessee
18. Northwestern
19. Houston
20. Florida
21. Arizona
22. Boise State
23. Missouri
24. Iowa
25. USC

Schools dropped out: No. 25 Oregon

Others receiving votes: Oklahoma State 120; Wisconsin 114; Cincinnati 49; New Mexico 43; Minnesota 35; UTSA 34; Nebraska 27; Virginia Tech 16; Oregon State 15; South Carolina 12; Duke 12; Oregon 5; Auburn 4; North Texas 2; Michigan 2; UCF 1; Oklahoma 1; James Madison 1.

AP Top 25 poll

First-place votes in parenthesis

1. Miami (59)
2. Ohio State (10)
3. Georgia
4. Indiana
5. Notre Dame
6. Utah
7. UCLA
8. BYU
9. Kentucky
10. Alabama
11. Texas
12. Ole Miss
13. Texas Tech
14. Wake Forest
15. LSU
16. Tennessee
17. Florida
18. Houston
19. SMU
20. Boise State
21. Northwestern
22. Arizona
23. Missouri
24. Oklahoma State
25. Wisconsin

Others receiving votes: Iowa 76, New Mexico 41, Cincinnati 11, Oregon State 10, South Carolina 8, Minnesota 7, Southern Cal 7, UTSA 1, Virginia Tech 1

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing atknoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Where Tennessee ranks in college football polls after loss to South Carolina

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