Tennessee Volunteers Projected to Have Top Three Defense in College Football

The Tennessee Volunteers are projected to have a top three defense in college football during the 2025 college football season.

The Tennessee Volunteers are less than 100 days away from the beginning of their 2025 college football season. The Vols are looking to build upon last year's College Football Playoff appearance and have been giving some lofty expectations during the offseason.

Among the expectations for the team is that the Volunteers will have on eof the nation's best defenses in college football. According to Sports Grid, the Volunteers are projected to have the third-best defense in te country behind only the Ohio State Buckeyes and Texas Longhorns.

"Defensive coordinator Tim Banks is one of the brightest assistant coaches in the country, and they return eight starters from one of the better defenses in 2024." Wrote Sports Grid's TJ Inman. "The pass rush will be the area that causes some concern after James Pearce Jr. and Omarr Norman-Lott were selected early in the NFL Draft."

The Vols will begin their 2025 season in Atlanta as they face the Syracuse Orange at noon on Saturday, August 30th. This will be the fourth all-time meeting between these two programs in a series that Tennessee controls 3-0. It will be the teams' first matchup since 2001.