Virginia Tech was ranked No. 7 in the preseason polls, while Alabama was No. 5; the game was forecast as a competition between two possible national championship contenders. Alabama defeated Virginia Tech 34-24 and ultimately went on to win the national championship. Tech recovered from the loss by winning its next five games, including a last-second victory over 19th-ranked Nebraska and a 31-7 blowout victory over No. 9 Miami. The victories brought Tech to a 5–1 record and a No. 4 national ranking. On October 17, Virginia Tech traveled to Atlanta for the second time that season, this time to play 19th-ranked Georgia Tech. For the first time since 1962, Georgia Tech defeated a top-five team, beating Virginia Tech 28–23. Georgia Tech's win gave it a tiebreaker against Virginia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings, but Virginia Tech made the tiebreaker moot by losing its next game, an ACC contest against North Carolina. Georgia Tech lost only one ACC game all season, a record that won it the ACC's Coastal Division and the accompanying spot in the ACC Championship Game ahead of Virginia Tech, which was No. 2 in the division. Virginia Tech broke its two-game losing streak by defeating non-conference foe East Carolina on November 5. The victory was the start of a four-game win streak that brought Virginia Tech to the end of the regular season and restored its national ranking to No. 12 after falling to No. 23 following the North Carolina loss. The Tennessee Volunteers entered the 2009 season following a 2008 campaign that ended with a bowl-ineligible 5–7 record. After the 2008 season ended, Tennessee fired head coach Phillip Fulmer and replaced him with Lane Kiffin, who promised to turn the program around. Kiffin made an offseason splash by breaking the social norms among SEC head football coaches and violating a handful of NCAA rules. In a season-opening win over Western Kentucky, Kiffin appeared to have made a difference for Tennessee, as the Volunteers had their largest margin of victory in nine years. That victory was followed by consecutive losses, however, against UCLA and No. 1-ranked Florida. Tennessee ended its losing streak with a win against Ohio, then began alternating wins and losses. The victory against Ohio was followed by a loss to Auburn. A win against Georgia preceded a loss to No. 2 Alabama on a last-second blocked field goal and a win against No. 22 South Carolina. After South Carolina, Tennessee beat Memphis to create its first winning streak of the season.