Tennessee Vols Earn CBS Sports’ Annual ‘Best in College Sports’ Honor

Tennessee becomes only the second SEC program ever to top the CBS Sports “Best of College Sports” rankings. Seven other SEC schools trailed UT in this year’s top 25.

“As we shared in Rise Glorious, our strategic plan for Tennessee Athletics, our vision for our entire department is to be leading the way in college sports and this honor is another example of the progress we are making,” Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White said. “This is a credit to the outstanding efforts from all of our student-athletes, coaches and staff. It’s certainly a great time to be on Rocky Top!”

This is just the latest national honor to find its way to America’s College Sports City following an extraordinary showing by the Vols and Lady Vols this past year. Tennessee repeated as champion of the SEC All-Sports Standings in 2022-23—becoming only the second school ever to sweep both the men’s and women’s all-sports standings.

UT also posted its all-time best finish in the LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup, landing at No. 6 nationally.

Tennessee also became the only school ever to win a New Year’s Six bowl game, advance both its men’s and women’s basketball teams to the Sweet Sixteen and send both its softball and baseball teams to the College World Series in the same academic year.

To learn more about the lengthy list of outstanding recent achievements for Tennessee Athletics, check out the 2022-23 Year in Review.

ABOUT THE CBS BEST OF COLLEGE SPORTS RANKINGS
In 2013, CBS Sports began presenting its Best in College Sports award utilizing a weighted formula that recognizes sports with more broad interest. Every FBS program is rated in three sports—football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball—along with two “wild cards” among the school’s most successful spectator sports: baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, gymnastics, lacrosse, hockey and wrestling.

The weighted formula puts 2.5 times as much emphasis on football and 2.0 times as much on men’s basketball compared to the rest of the sports. Teams that do not finish in the final AP Top 25 in football but play in a bowl are awarded 62.5 points (25 x 2.5). Those that make the men’s NIT are given 20 points (10 x 2), while WNIT teams receive 10 points. For all titles settled via bracket, such as the NCAA Tournament, point totals are based on number of participants. All champions in the other sports receive 100 points for a national championship in the formula created by longtime CBS Sports producer J. Darin Darst.

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