Where Tennessee ranks in college football polls before Kentucky game

Tennessee football moved up one spot in the US LBM Coaches Poll after not playing in Week 9 of the 2026 season.

The Vols are ranked No. 16 in both the coaches poll and the AP Top 25.

Tennessee (6-2, 3-2 SEC) plays No. 7 Kentucky (7-1, 5-1) on Nov. 7 (6:15 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Neyland Stadium. The Wildcats' ranking is their highest ever and they were one of three teams to receive a first-place vote this week.

Here are the updated Top 25 polls with four games remaining in the 2026 regular season.

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College football rankings after Week 9

US LBM Coaches Poll

First-place votes in parentheses

1. Miami (68)
2. Georgia (4)
3. Indiana
4. Utah
5. UCLA
6. Notre Dame
7. Kentucky (1)
8. BYU
9. Alabama
10. Ohio State
11. Texas
12. Ole Miss
13. Texas Tech
14. Wake Forest
15. LSU
16. Tennessee
17. USC
18. Houston
19. Missouri
20. Iowa
21. Boise State
22. Arizona
23. Northwestern
24. SMU
25. New Mexico

Schools dropped out: No. 20 Florida

Others receiving votes: South Carolina 91; Florida 81; UTSA 76; Duke 76; Virginia Tech 53; Oregon 41; Minnesota 10; Oklahoma State 9; Liberty 6; North Texas 4; Wisconsin 3; Memphis 2; North Dakota State 1; Nebraska 1; Cincinnati 1

AP Top 25 poll

First-place votes in parentheses

1. Miami (62)
2. Georgia (7)
3. Utah (1)
4. Notre Dame
5. UCLA
6. Indiana
7. BYU
8. Kentucky
9. Alabama
10. Texas
11. Ohio State
12. Ole Miss
13. Texas Tech
14. Wake Forest
15. LSU
16. Tennessee
17. Houston
18. USC
19. Missouri
20. Boise State
21. Iowa
22. New Mexico
23. South Carolina
24. Arizona
25. Florida

Others receiving votes: Northwestern 79; Oregon 55; UTSA 43; SMU 27; Virginia Tech 12; Duke 10; Minnesota 8; Liberty 4; Oklahoma State 3; Louisville 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 before Kentucky game

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