Can Vols beat top-ranked Texas? Here's Tennessee football record vs AP No. 1 teams

Tennessee football has faced No. 1 teams for over four decades, with limited success. Their last win against an AP No. 1-ranked team came on September 28, 1985, when they defeated Auburn with a score of 38-20. They have a chance to break their drought when they host Texas, the No. 1 team in the AP rankings, at Neyland Stadium on September 26.

The matchup would be the first between the two programs since the 1969 Cotton Bowl. Tennessee has a 2-17 record in their previous 19 games against top-ranked opponents, with 11 of those games occurring since 2011. Notably, they lost to Florida in 1997, when the Gators were ranked No. 1 in both the Coaches and AP polls, and they beat Alabama in 2022, when Alabama was ranked No. 1 in the Coaches Poll and No. 3 by the AP.

Tennessee's coach, Josh Heupel, has a record of 0-3 against top-ranked teams in the AP poll but 1-3 when including victories over Alabama. The only other upset by Tennessee over a No. 1-ranked team in the AP poll was against LSU in 1959. Tennessee's all-time record against No. 1 teams includes a victory over LSU on November 7, 1959, with a score of 14-13; losses to Alabama on October 20, 1979, and October 18, 1980; a narrow defeat to Notre Dame on September 28, 1985; a loss to Florida on September 17, 1994; another loss to Florida on September 20, 1997; a loss to Florida at home on September 17, 1994; a loss to Florida on September 20, 1997; a loss to Miami on September 19, 2009; a loss to Florida on October 24, 2009; a loss to Alabama on October 15, 2011; a loss to Alabama on October 20, 2012; a loss to Alabama on September 26, 2013; a loss to Alabama on October 15, 2016; a loss to Alabama on October 21, 2017; a loss to Alabama on October 20, 2018; a loss to Alabama on October 19, 2019; a loss to Georgia on November 13, 2021; a win over Georgia on October 15, 2022; and a loss to Georgia on November 18, 2023.