Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit joined in on the most popular offseason topic across the SEC. After Alabama and Georgia, what is the third-best team in the entire SEC?

“I think A&M is the obvious selection, but I think Tennessee could be, potentially with Hendon Hooker, yeah,” Herbstreit said.

Davis agreed.

“I think Tennessee right now also, but they’re going to have to stop somebody,” Davis said. “Which they didn’t do at all last year. But if they just stop teams occasionally, they’re going to be really difficult to beat. So I’ll lean Tennessee right now.”

In the coaches poll, the Vols received the third-most votes among teams not in the top 25, behind only Iowa and Penn State. In the AP Top 25, Tennessee was the first team outside the top 25.

The Vols open Josh Heupel’s second season against Ball State on Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network at Neyland Stadium. The Vols went 7-6 in Heupel’s first season in 2021, and they return 15 starters from last season.

In the preseason All-SEC coaches team, Tennessee had 2 players make the team, wide receiver Cedric Tillman and defensive lineman/linebacker Byron Young.

Tillman has the most returning production at wide receiver in the SEC as he had 1,081 yards on 64 receptions and 12 touchdowns a season ago. Young last season made 5.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. He posted a tackle for a loss in 8 of the team’s last 9 games.