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

Tennessee football is no stranger to facing No. 1 teams, but it hasn't been all that successful against them for the last four decades.

The Vols haven't beaten an AP No. 1-ranked team since beating Auburn 38-20 on Sept. 28, 1985. They have a chance to end that drought when they host the Longhorns in their SEC opener.

No. 13 Tennessee (3-0) faces No. 1 Texas (3-0) at Neyland Stadium on Sept. 26 (noon ET, ABC) in the first meeting between the programs since the 1969 Cotton Bowl. It's first time the Vols and Longhorns have played each other in Knoxville.

The matchup is Tennessee's 20th game against an opponent ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25. The Vols have a 2-17 record in the previous 19 games against No. 1 teams, and 11 of those matchups have happened since 2011.

The 2-17 record is specific to the AP poll, though, with two more other games against teams ranked No. 1 in the Coaches Poll. Tennessee lost to Florida in 1997 when the Gators were ranked No. 1 in the Coaches Poll and No. 2 in the AP poll, and UT beat Alabama in 2022 when the Tide was ranked No. 1 in the Coaches Poll and No. 3 by the AP.

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel is 0-3 against No. 1 teams in the AP poll but 1-3 against No. 1 teams with the win over Alabama.

Tennessee's other upset over a team ranked No. 1 in the AP poll was over LSU in 1959.

Tennessee football all-time vs. No. 1 teams

• Nov. 7, 1959: LSU, W 14-13
• Oct. 20, 1979: at Alabama, L 27-17
• Oct. 18, 1980: Alabama, L 27-0
• Sept. 28, 1985: Auburn, W 38-20
• Nov. 10, 1990: Notre Dame, L 34-29
• Sept. 17, 1994: Florida, L 31-0
• Sept. 20, 1997: at Florida, L 33-20*
• Nov. 9, 2002: Miami, L 26-3
• Sept. 19, 2009: at Florida, L 23-13
• Oct. 24, 2009: at Alabama, L 12-10
• Oct. 15, 2011: LSU, L 38-7
• Oct. 20, 2012: Alabama, L 44-13
• Oct. 26, 2013: at Alabama, L 45-10
• Oct. 15, 2016: Alabama, L 49-10
• Oct. 21, 2017: at Alabama, L 45-7
• Oct. 20, 2018: Alabama, L 58-21
• Oct. 19, 2019: at Alabama, L 35-13
• Nov. 13, 2021: Georgia, L 41-17
• Oct. 15, 2022: Alabama, W 52-49*
• Nov. 5, 2022: Georgia, L 27-13
• Nov. 18, 2023: Georgia, L 38-10

*Opponent ranked No. 1 in Coaches Poll but not AP poll

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Can Vols beat top-ranked Texas? Here's Tennessee football record vs AP No. 1 teams