Affirming an exceptional 2021-22 athletic year for the Big Orange, Tennessee has claimed its first SEC Overall All-Sports Championship, presented by USA Today Network.
The “overall” all-sports championship signifies Tennessee’s dominance this year across both men’s and women’s sports among SEC schools.
USA Today Network also crowns annual SEC All-Sports Champions for both men’s and women’s sports separately. The Vols captured their first SEC Men’s All-Sports title since 2007-08, while the Lady Vols finished second in the SEC Women’s All-Sports standings.
In the overall standings—factoring in both men’s and women’s team success—Tennessee and Florida each finished with 154 points, but Tennessee’s overall percentage of .770 edged out UF’s .740. Arkansas finished in third overall with 124 points and a percentage of .62626.
“This is such an exciting time to be a Tennessee Vol,” men’s basketball rising senior Josiah-Jordan James said. “We’ve got a bunch of different sport teams, but as student-athletes, we really are like one big, united team. We all want to see one another succeed. And this year, we’ve had a ton of success to celebrate. Tennessee provides us with everything we need to be great—there’s no better place in the world to learn, train, compete and develop as a college athlete.”
Spanning all sports, Tennessee won five SEC team championships in 2021-22, it’s first full academic year under the leadership of Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White. Soccer, men’s basketball and baseball each won their respective SEC Tournaments. Baseball also won the SEC regular-season title, and women’s swimming & diving team won its SEC Championship meet, which it hosted.
“When I first came to Tennessee, I was told it was a program on the rise,” Tennessee senior pole vaulter and 2021-22 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Co-President Hannah Jefcoat said. “I would say the rise has happened—but we aren’t finished yet. We have worked hard to build a family-like environment with our student-athletes, and that is evident by the results we are posting as Lady Vols and Vols. GBO!”
Tennessee Director of Swimming & Diving Matt Kredich expressed similar sentiment.
“This past year, it’s felt like the whole of Tennessee Athletics has been on a mission,” Kredich said. “There’s been an energy that maybe used to be contained to one team, but now that energy just ignites everyone else. And it goes beyond the walls of a single team. I haven’t felt anything like this in my 17 years, and it’s just getting stronger. The confidence that comes with success just feeds more confidence and success. It’s a great time to be a Tennessee Vol!”
This is the second year the SEC All-Sports awards have been presented by the USA Today Network.
Points are awarded based on the number of competing teams in a sport. A program’s points total is divided by the total number of teams competing in the sports the school sponsors, and that quotient ranks the teams in the final USA Today Network SEC All-Sports standings.
The league office tabulated the SEC All-Sports totals internally until the 1994-95 academic year. The New York Times Regional Newspaper Group presented the awards from the 1994-95 through 2010-11 seasons, and the awards were later given by The Halifax Media Group and GateHouse Media until the USA Today Network began presenting the award prior to 2020-21.
2021-22 USA Today Network SEC Overall All-Sports Standings
1. Tennessee
2. Florida
3. Arkansas
4. LSU
5. Alabama
6. Georgia
7. Texas A&M
8. Kentucky
9. Auburn
10. Ole Miss
11. South Carolina
12. Vanderbilt
13. Mississippi State
14. Missouri
Men: 1. Tennessee 2. Florida 3. Texas A&M 4. Arkansas 5. Georgia 6. Kentucky 7. Auburn 8. Alabama 9. LSU 10. Mississippi 11. South Carolina 12. Mississippi State 13. Vanderbilt 14. Missouri.
Women: 1. Florida 2. Tennessee 3. Mississippi 4. LSU 5. Arkansas 6. Alabama 7. Kentucky 8. Auburn 9. Georgia 10. South Carolina 11. Texas A&M 12. Vanderbilt 13. Mississippi State 14. Missouri.
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