EA Sports issues an indirect challenge to Tennessee Vols fans with head-scratching ranking ahead of popular video game's release

Tennessee came in seventh overall in the SEC behind LSU, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M. 

It's honestly surprising that Neyland Stadium came in that low, especially over the last four years with Josh Heupel at the helm of the program.  And that's both with respect to the deafening crowd noise inside the facility as well as the success the Vols have had on the field at home. 

Tennessee's raucous fans led to an accusation from Alabama Crimson Tide radio play-by-play voice Chris Stewart that UT was piping in crowd noise, something he later walked back.  Current and former Alabama players also mentioned Neyland as the toughest environment they'd played in. Tennessee is 25-4 at home in Heupel's 4 years. 

Naturally, the ranking drew a response from Tennessee's social media team, who quote tweeted the rankings with a yawn emoji and a video of the "Neyland effect" with a montage of praise from commentators about just how tough it is to play in the home of the Vols. 

We'll see if fans of the Tennessee Vols take that ranking personally and find yet another gear to reach when the Vols host Georgia in their SEC opener on September 13.