Tennessee drops in the polls after last-second loss to South Carolina

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 24: George MacIntyre #12 of the Tennessee Volunteers huddles his offense during the first half of a football game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium on October 24, 2026 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images) |

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What is the story about?

The Tennessee Vols suffered a brutal loss on Saturday night, falling to the South Carolina Gamecocks 27-24. Malik Orsan drilled a 48-yard walk off field goal to send fans storming onto the field and send the Vols into their bye week on an extremely sour note.

So what did it do to Tennessee in the polls? The loss had a bit heavy impact on the Vols’ place in the standings. Tennessee dropped from 11 to 16 in the AP Poll and from 11 to 17 in the Coaches Poll.

Feels a bit harsh, given what Tennessee did the week before and given how close Tennessee was to pulling off hte win. Three feet, to be exact.

But Tennessee will get plenty of chances to try to climb back up over their final four games. After the bye, Tennessee gets No. 8 Kentucky in Neyland Stadium on Nov. 7. Kentucky enters their bye week as well, so that is all but guaranteed to be a top 10 opponent for the Vols in two weeks.

LSU is also back inside the top 15 in both polls, checking in at No. 15 in the AP Poll and No. 13 in the Coaches Poll. Lane Kiffin’s team blasted Auburn 38-17 on Saturday on the plains.