Tennessee receives a big dose of disrespect from prominent college football analyst while Florida gets the benefit of the doubt
On3 national college football analyst/writer Andy Staples doesn't think the Tennessee Vols will reach the College Football Playoff for a second straight season in 2025. Staples didn't include Tennessee among his 12 playoff teams in his early 2025 College Football Playoff prediction that was revealed on Monday morning. While Staples doesn't have Tennessee reaching the […]
On3 national college football analyst/writer Andy Staples doesn't think the Tennessee Vols will reach the College Football Playoff for a second straight season in 2025.
Staples didn't include Tennessee among his 12 playoff teams in his early 2025 College Football Playoff prediction that was revealed on Monday morning.
While Staples doesn't have Tennessee reaching the playoff, he has the Florida Gators surprisingly making it.
"Putting Florida here is a big swing, and it counts on two things: quarterback D.J. Lagway continues to improve and the line play looks like it did at the end of 2024 and not the beginning," wrote Staples of including Florida. "If both those things happen, Florida could go 10-2 and get in based on the gnarliness of its schedule. If those two things don’t happen, someone else is here and the Gators may be in the market for a coach."
Staples also has Georgia, Texas, and South Carolina making the playoff from the SEC (Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee were the only SEC teams to reach the playoff in 2024).
That's certainly a bold prediction from Staples. And it's one that I'm sure the Vols will take personal (as they should).
Staples, by the way, is already in the dog house with Vols fans after recently suggesting that Florida would've beaten Tennessee last season had DJ Lagway started at quarterback for the Gators. (Lagway, who replaced an injured Graham Mertz against the Vols, came into the game with the Gators leading. Tennessee ended up winning the game in overtime.)
We'll see how it plays out in 2025. If Staples ends up being incorrect, I'm sure Tennessee fans (and maybe some of Tennessee's players) will be ready to hit the On3 analyst with some receipts.
