Though it did not claim a national championship during the 2022-23 season, Tennessee was the model of consistency this year as it advanced deep into the postseason across multiple sports. That level of success ultimately led the Volunteers to the top of the annual CBS Sports Best in College Sports rankings.
With 536.75 points, Tennessee edged UCLA and Alabama to earn its first the Best in College Sports award since CBS Sports created the rankings in 2013. The Bruins finished second to the Vols with 524.50 points, while the Crimson Tide were third with 496.50 points.
Tennessee’s impressive athletic season saw the football program go 11-2 and finish No. 6 in the final AP Top 25 with a win over Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Both the men’s (25-11) and women’s (25-12) basketball programs reached the Sweet 16s of their respective NCAA Tournaments. The softball team advanced to the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series, and the baseball team advanced to the College World Series but lost twice to eventual national champion LSU.
Even though only two “wild card” sports are counted in the Best in College Sports formula, Tennessee also made the NCAA Tournament in women’s soccer and women’s volleyball.
Georgia, which won the College Football Playoff National Championship in football for the second straight year, again finished ninth overall after receiving no points in men’s basketball.
The National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA) has ranked athletic programs for years by weighing every sport equally. (For example: National titles in football and water polo are worth the same amount of points.) 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 (Note: North Carolina was invited to the NIT, so even though they didn’t accept, they were awarded 20 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.
2022-23 Best in College Sports
CBS Sports’ Best in College Sports winners
- 2022-23: Tennessee
- 2021-22: Michigan
- 2020-21: Alabama
- 2019-20: Not awarded (COVID-19)
- 2018-19: Michigan
- 2017-18: Ohio State
- 2016-17: Florida State
- 2015-16: Oklahoma
- 2014-15: Stanford
- 2013-14: Louisville
