ESPN studio host explains why Tennessee Vols are in a unique position in new College Football Playoff rankings
The Tennessee Vols can officially let out a sigh of relief. Tennessee found out on Tuesday night that they're back in the College Football Playoff picture thanks to a big win over UTEP and losses by Ole Miss and Alabama. The Vols are at No. 8 in the new playoff rankings. Because of automatic qualifiers, […]
The Tennessee Vols can officially let out a sigh of relief.
Tennessee found out on Tuesday night that they're back in the College Football Playoff picture thanks to a big win over UTEP and losses by Ole Miss and Alabama.
The Vols are at No. 8 in the new playoff rankings. Because of automatic qualifiers, Tennessee would be the No. 9 seed if the playoff started today. The Vols would travel to Athens for a rematch with the Georgia Bulldogs.
If the Vols win on Saturday against the Vanderbilt Commodores, they'll lock down a spot in the 12-team playoff.
And they might even host a home playoff game.
ESPN/SEC Network studio host Peter Burns tweeted on Tuesday night that he thinks Tennessee is the SEC team with the best chance to host a home playoff game next month.
That's because the winner of the SEC Championship game will almost certainly jump into the top four. And the loser could fall below the Vols.
I don't think it's as cut and dry as Burns suggests, but there does seem to be a good chance that Tennessee will host a home playoff game.
The best scenario for Tennessee (in Burns' example) would be Texas losing to Texas A&M this week followed by the Aggies losing to Georgia in the SEC Championship game. The Longhorns don't have any great wins, so they should fall below Tennessee if they lose to Texas A&M this week.
If Texas beats Texas A&M but then loses to Georgia in the SEC Championship game, I'm not sure the committee would drop the Longhorns below the Vols (both of Texas' losses would be to Georgia).
I'm also not sure that the committee would drop Georgia below Tennessee if the Bulldogs lose in the SEC Championship game (unless Georgia loses to Georgia Tech this week….that game has no impact on the SEC Championship game, but it would be quite harmful to the Bulldogs' resumé).
So basically, Tennessee fans should root for Texas A&M to beat Texas. And then they should root for Georgia to beat Texas A&M in Atlanta.
Another scenario that would result in a home playoff game for Tennessee would be USC beating Notre Dame.
Penn State losing to Maryland, which is unlikely, would also probably give the Vols a home playoff game.
Tennessee's dream of hosting a home playoff game is very much alive, the Vols just need some help to make it happen.
Most importantly, though, Tennessee needs to beat Vanderbilt on Saturday for any of these scenarios to matter.
