College Football Top 25: Buying or selling the 2015 preseason rankings

Nov 15, 2014; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) runs the ball against Kentucky Wildcats linebacker Ryan Flannigan (33) during the second half at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee won 50 to 16. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Highest Rank:  22 (SN, Athlon)
Lowest Rank:  25 (Coaches, AP)

BUYING

Tennessee is becoming a talked-about team and a sexy pick to pull the upset and win the SEC East. Butch Jones has this once-powerful program on the brink of being great once again, but there are still a lot of questions.

Every year we talk about how impressive the Vols recruiting class is under Jones, yet every year they seem unable to break that double-digit win barrier. There’s no real reason to think that 2015 will be any different except for the maturation of quarterback Joshua Dobbs.

Dobbs is the real deal, and he can do things no Vol quarterback has been able to do for decades, but the problem is the options behind him are slim. If you want to be successful, you can’t have a one-trick pony at the quarterback position, and if Dobbs goes down, Tennessee is in trouble.

The Vols are solid on defense, although they do lose a number of key components, including middle linebacker A.J. Johnson and defensive tackle Jordan Williams. But this is a well coached unit who shouldn’t see much falloff and will probably improve from last season’s No. 37 total defense ranking.

Offensively the Vols are loaded. But will that gun misfire in 2015? Despite having one of the best wide receiver groups in the nation last season, they still finished 71st in passing offense and 93rd in total offense nationally. Hard to give them more than a fringe top 25 ranking with those numbers.

Next: Mississippi State