Tennessee
Ranking 134 college football teams after Week 4: Tennessee to the top 3; BYU, Navy soar
Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.
Much of the talk going into Tennessee’s trip to Oklahoma was about Volunteers coach Josh Heupel’s return to his alma mater, Heupel was right when, through teary eyes, he told his players that Saturday’s 25-15 win against the Sooners was about them and their future. Right now, Tennessee’s future looks like an SEC contender.
After a road win that wasn’t as close as the final score, Tennessee moves up to No. 3 in this week’s edition of The Athletic 134.
Through four games, the Vols have shown they can win in different ways, and that should bode well in SEC play. Saturday’s win was an ugly one, and that’s not a bad thing. Two years ago, the Tennessee team that finished No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings could put up 40 or 50 points on almost everyone, but it ranked 31st in yards per rush on offense and 48th in yards per play allowed on defense. This Tennessee team can run the ball and play better defense.
Yes, Oklahoma’s offense has struggled, but Tennessee played a game in which it knew it could hold on to a lead, run the ball and play defense to run out the clock, and that’s what happened. The Vols passed the ball 21 times and ran it 49 times (excluding sacks) while missing two offensive tackles. The Sooners averaged 1.1 yards per carry and turned it over three times.
Tennessee is playing complete ball right now, and after one of the best wins of the weekend, the Vols move up in the rankings.
GO DEEPER
Mandel’s Final Thoughts: Remember Travis Hunter’s dominance. Plus, ‘new’ CFB is here
We’ve reached the point where most teams are one-third of the way through their season. Head-to-head results aren’t weighted as heavily for teams that aren’t on the same tier (goodbye, Northern Illinois), but some lopsided results this weekend resulted in some final few big jumps.
Here is the Week 5 edition of The Athletic 134.
1-10
| Rank | Team | Record | Prev |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
4-0 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
3-0 |
2 |
|
|
3 |
4-0 |
5 |
|
|
4 |
3-0 |
3 |
|
|
5 |
4-0 |
4 |
|
|
6 |
4-0 |
6 |
|
|
7 |
3-0 |
7 |
|
|
8 |
3-0 |
8 |
|
|
9 |
4-0 |
11 |
|
|
10 |
3-0 |
10 |
Other than Tennessee’s rise, the only change here is that Missouri moves out of the top 10 and Utah moves up to No. 9 after the Utes’ 22-19 win at Oklahoma State that was 22-3 at one point in the fourth quarter. I don’t think the ceiling of this Utah team is high without quarterback Cam Rising, but the defense is as nasty as it’s ever been, and the Utes are the Big 12 favorite.
Georgia’s trip to Alabama this Saturday will shake up next week’s rankings.
To acknowledge Ohio State, my preseason No. 1 has now dropped down to No. 4 simply because of the schedule. The three teams above the Buckeyes have played much better opponents. Games against Iowa and Oregon to open October will be Ohio State’s first chance to start climbing back up.
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AP Top 25 takeaways: Who’s No. 1? Tennessee can’t be dismissed in SEC-heavy debate
11-25
I can’t tell whether Missouri is not as good as we expected or just playing with its food too much. Beating Vanderbilt in overtime after playing Boston College unexpectedly close were not performances indicative of a top-10 team. The Tigers are testing my patience and will continue to drop with play like that, even though their schedule is very favorable for an SEC team.
Michigan jumps back up to No. 11 after a comeback win to beat USC at home. Like Utah, I don’t think the Wolverines’ ceiling is high — the offense went nowhere once USC adjusted — but they are also better in the trenches than almost everyone they’ll play. BYU makes a big jump up to No. 16 after a 38-9 beatdown of Kansas State, a previous top-15 team. The final margin wasn’t indicative of the box score numbers in K-State’s favor, but BYU’s defense looks solid, and its earlier win at SMU looks better after Saturday’s results.
Illinois climbs up to No. 18 after a win at Nebraska. The Illini are grabbing takeaways and playing efficiently on offense. This team plays really hard and could be another Bret Bielema overachieving classic. Louisville finally played someone of note, moving up to No. 23 after a 31-19 win against Georgia Tech. Indiana also moves into the top 25 at No. 24 not because the Hoosiers demolished Charlotte but because they’ve demolished everyone so far. The next game against Maryland will tell us whether this is for real.
Welcome to the top 25, Washington State. The Cougars are 4-0 after stopping a two-point attempt to beat San Jose State in overtime, and their earlier win against Texas Tech looks better this week. They can only reach the CFP as an at-large team this year and next, meaning they’ll have to be ranked around the top 10.
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Michigan proved it can win ugly against USC. That’s all that matters — for now
26-50
If Oklahoma wasn’t “Oklahoma,” the Sooners wouldn’t be ranked in the top 25. They haven’t been good all season outside of their opening blowout of Temple, and they drop to No. 26 here facing major questions on offense with the benching of quarterback Jackson Arnold. Iowa still can’t pass the ball, but its new offense is opening lanes for explosive running back Kaleb Johnson. The Hawkeyes slide up to No. 28 after beating Minnesota. Texas Tech jumps up to No. 35 after beating previously unbeaten Arizona State. It’s possible neither of these teams are as good as their ranking, but for now, they’ll sit here.
SMU’s 66-42 win against TCU sees the Mustangs come up to No. 36; their earlier loss to BYU doesn’t look as bad after what BYU did to Kansas State. Navy makes the biggest jump of the week, from No. 105 to No. 37, after beating Memphis. The 3-0 Midshipmen have scored their most points through three games since 1918 and might end up being one of the better teams in the AAC. Northern Illinois tumbles to No. 38 after blowing an 11-point lead and losing to Buffalo in overtime.
Arkansas’ 24-14 win against Auburn moves the Razorbacks up to No. 41, while Cal’s loss to Florida State sees the Golden Bears drop to No. 42. James Madison had not played well this year, but a stunning 70-50 win at North Carolina vaults the Dukes up to No. 44.
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How JMU, a former women’s teaching school, became a college sports disruptor
51-75
North Carolina had been playing well before Saturday, but that JMU loss drops the Tar Heels to No. 55. Virginia Tech tumbles to No. 58 after a late loss to Rutgers. The larger problem is that two losses to Rutgers and Vanderbilt now leave Virginia Tech without many chances for notable wins. NC State also drops to No. 59 after a 59-35 loss to Clemson, the Wolfpack’s second beating of the season at the hands of an AP Top 25 team.
Toledo is another Group of 5 darling that drops, this time after a dramatic loss at Western Kentucky. TCU falls to No. 69 after losing to SMU, while Stanford jumps up to No. 70 after beating Syracuse on a last-second field goal. TCU’s head-to-head win against Stanford explains their relative positioning. Wisconsin dropped to No. 71 without playing, but that’s simply because other teams (like Stanford) got good wins while Wisconsin was idle. Army is 3-0 and looking quite solid thus far. Service academies back on the rise, perhaps? Cincinnati is up to 3-1 and No. 73 after a 34-0 win against Houston, and the Bearcats may be rounding into form. If not for that blown fourth quarter against Pitt…
Kansas is down to No. 74 after another one-score loss, this time to West Virginia, and Florida State is up to No. 75 after beating Cal, becoming the final Power 4 team to get a victory.
GO DEEPER
Stewart Mandel’s 12-team Playoff projections after Week 4
76-100
No. 77 San Jose State lost to Washington State, but the Spartans are looking quite good under first-year coach Ken Niumatalolo so far. Virginia leapfrogs Coastal Carolina to No. 79 after beating the Chanticleers. South Florida drops to No. 78 after a 50-15 loss to Miami. The Bulls’ nonconference schedule has been rough.
Bowling Green moves up to No. 86 after a one-score loss to Texas A&M, which came after a one-score loss to Penn State. This feels like a team that could do a lot of damage in the MAC. Same with Buffalo, which is 3-1 and No. 87 after beating Northern Illinois. Sam Houston is 3-1 and up to No. 91 after taking care of business against New Mexico State and could make noise in Conference USA.
South Alabama is the toughest team to rank this week. The Jaguars have losses to Ohio and North Texas but beat Appalachian State 48-14 on the road. They were missing quarterback Gio Lopez against Ohio, so maybe they’ve just figured things out after an 0-2 start? Or maybe App State is in big trouble the rest of the year. This is a South Alabama team we need to see more of to get a better read.
Mississippi State is the lowest-ranked Power 4 team at No. 98, and quarterback Blake Shapen is out for the year after suffering a shoulder injury in the 45-28 loss to Florida. Annnnnd next up on the schedule are Texas and Georgia. I’m so sorry, Bulldogs.
GO DEEPER
College Football Playoff 2024 projections: Utah back in, USC hangs on in bracket
101-134
Shoutout to No. 108 Troy and No. 125 Temple for their first wins of the season. I thought Temple could be an 0-12 candidate, but the Owls beat Utah State 45-29. Is UConn turning a corner? The Huskies played Duke close last week and whipped FAU 48-14 on Saturday, moving up to No. 113.
FIU, meanwhile, lost to FCS Monmouth at Pitbull Stadium and falls to No. 115. Tulsa beat Louisiana Tech in overtime to move up to No. 118. Wyoming is tumbling fast, now down to No. 130 after a 44-17 loss to North Texas. The Cowboys, a perennial bowl team under Craig Bohl, have three blowout losses to FBS teams and a loss to FBS Idaho in Jay Sawvel’s first season.
Kent State remains at the bottom after getting outgained 718-67 in total yards against Penn State. That is the largest gap I can ever remember seeing, off the top of my head.
The Athletic 134 series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Photo: Brian Bahr / Getty Images)
How Knox County Schools ban books in school libraries
Knox County Schools abide by Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act to determine whether a book challenge should result in a ban.
A majority of Knox County school board came together to ask state legislators to reform the Age-Appropriate Materials Act that led to the ban of “Roots” last month.
The board voted June 4 to move forward on a resolution brought by Anne Templeton that urges legislators to:
- Allow books to be considered as a whole instead of a single passage. Right now, if a section of a book has depictions of sexual conduct or excessive violence, it must be banned.
- Extend the materials review period to 90 days before a statewide commission acts.
- Distinguish between grade levels so a book can be removed from elementary schools and allowed in high schools, for example.
Board members Katherine Bike, the Rev. John Butler, Chair Kristi Kristy, Patricia Fontenot-Ridley and Anne Templeton voted in favor. Members Betsy Henderson, Lauren Morgan, Stephen Triplett and Vice Chair Travis Wright voted against the resolution.
Triplett and Henderson said they agreed with parts of the resolution, but were fearful this action could disarm the Age-Appropriate Materials Act.
“I don’t want to send a message to the General Assembly that I want the Age-Appropriate Materials Act watered down at all. That is my only fear in sending anything to them, is that they get the idea from our board that we want it watered down,” Triplett explained. “I would be content with these changes, but I’d also be content if nothing changed.”
Henderson urged the board to instead take the issue up in the fall ahead of the General Assembly’s 2027 session. Templeton said she preferred to act now because book banning is a relevant topic in Knox County.
“My request is not for us to sit down and rewrite the law. It’s to ask the General Assembly to have a conversation, to say, ‘Maybe we didn’t get it perfect the first time because we’re human and maybe in our humanity we didn’t look at all the ifs, ands and buts,’” Templeton explained. “Now we have a case study here in Knoxville that could possibly apply to make this law better. To make it different.”
Morgan said the bulk of the work needs to happen at the local level, not with the state legislature.
“We need to do some work on (policy) and figure out ways to work within the framework that the law provides,” Morgan said. “I think before we’re asking the General Assembly to begin or substantially alter a law that was only enacted a couple years ago, I do believe we need to do our work as a local board to figure out a better way to enact it here.”
Next steps
A resolution is just the first step for the board in a long legislative process that will start again in the fall.
Tennessee lawmakers will reconvene in Nashville in January, but work happens year-round. A Tennessee School Board Association advocacy guide encourages local school boards to submit potential resolutions June through September for consideration at the organization’s convention in November.
This resolution will likely be discussed further late in the year when the board creates its annual priorities to send with the Knoxville delegation in 2027. This is an annual process and can include asks to fully fund preschools or protect public education for undocumented immigrants, for example.
How we got here
The decision to ban “Roots” was made public in mid-May, and was immediately met with backlash from the community and country.
The novel’s author, Alex Haley, called East Tennessee home during the later years of his life. He built a home in Norris and later bought a home in Sequoyah Hills. A sculpture of Haley was erected in Morningside Park in 1998, and that part of the park is now dubbed Alex Haley Heritage Square. He donated his personal papers − including drafts of “Roots” − to the University of Tennessee. There’s a permanent exhibit in the Museum of Appalachia dedicated to Haley.
“Roots” was one of 124 titles KCS has banned in the past two years after Tennessee law directed schools to review the contents of their libraries. Superintendent Jon Rysewyk reinstated the historical novel May 26.
KCS evaluates books to ban on a regular basis, and the district committee − comprising three administrators − reviews only specific passages, not the totality of the work when banning a book, to follow the law. The committee previously reviewed an excerpt from “Roots” and did not recommend banning it.
District spokesperson Carly Harrington told Knox News the district does not “track or document the original source” of complaints.
Rysewyk told board members in a memo the ban “weighed heavily” on him. He said he consulted with legal experts who came to different conclusions in applying the state law to “Roots.”
Caitlyn Meisner is the K-12 education reporter for Knox News. Email tips and story ideas to caitlyn.meisner@knoxnews.com.
Redshirt freshman kicker Grady Dangerfield enters his second season at Tennessee in 2026.
The 6-foot, 215-pound kicker appeared in two games for the Vols in 2025. He recorded 257 yards and three touchbacks on four kickoff attempts against UAB and New Mexico State.
Against the Blazers on Sept. 20, 2025, Dangerfield had three kickoff attempts for 195 yards. He also totaled 62 kickoff yards on one attempt versus New Mexico State on Nov. 15, 2025.
Dangerfield committed to Tennessee in Oct. 2024 over Navy and Virginia Tech. He was a Kohl’s Kicking five-star prospect and the No. 41 ranked kicker in the nation.
Dangerfield went to the Vols from James Island Charter High School in Charleston, South Carolina.
Tennessee will kick off its 2026 football season Sept. 5 versus Furman at Neyland Stadium. The season opener is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EDT (SEC Network+).
The Vols will also host Kennesaw State, Texas, Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky and LSU, while playing at Georgia Tech, Arkansas, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt during the 2026 campaign.
Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
Tennessee
Tennessee AMC theater worker, 85, receives $146K from strangers for retirement after viral video
A viral Tennessee movie theater worker, 85, was surprised with $146K as strangers rallied together to help her “enjoy retirement.”
Mary Ellen Eron was seen hauling a heavy black garbage bag and pushing a cleaning cart during her shift at the theater in Maryville, Tenn., which has since been viewed more than 13 million times.
“Let’s secretly help retire this beautiful woman. No one deserves to work at this age,” movie customer Brooklyn Green, who filmed the video, captioned the post.
Green launched a fundraiser last weekend after watching Mary, who has been a movie theater staffer for 45 years, hard at work – even though she’s a stranger.
“I knew nothing about her. I didn’t even know her name when I went to the theater,” Green told WATE reported. “I just decided that she was working so hard, and I aspired to be like her one day.
“Her physical appearance didn’t look too comfortable, especially since the way she was working so hard.”
Green set a target of $200,000 – and she raised $146,317 before pausing donations. More than 7,500 people donated to the charitable cause.
On Wednesday, Green posted the moment that she presented Eron, who helps the homeless and her local church, with the total figures from the crowdfunding page.
“Oh my goodness. That’s a lot of money,” Eron said as she realized the number on the piece of paper.
“That’s a lot of money and you deserve every bit of it,” Green said.
The clip also featured a message from Eron, who addressed the people who had contributed.
“Thank you so very much to all the wonderful people that have donated money to the GoFundMe,” she said.
“I’m overwhelmed and certainly blessed by the Lord and you wonderful people. Thank you once more.”
The theater’s manager revealed it will be Eron’s decision when she retires.
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