ESPN analyst puts Tennessee Vols in a tough spot in latest college football playoff projection
The Tennessee Vols' 31-17 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs is a tough one for UT fans to swallow. Up 10-0, Tennessee imploded thereafter, getting outscored 31-7 the rest of the way. How far will the two-score loss on the road to another playoff contender drop Tennessee? The consensus among pundits is Tennessee being right on […]
The Tennessee Vols' 31-17 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs is a tough one for UT fans to swallow. Up 10-0, Tennessee imploded thereafter, getting outscored 31-7 the rest of the way.
How far will the two-score loss on the road to another playoff contender drop Tennessee? The consensus among pundits is Tennessee being right on the cut line for the final spot or two in the playoff.
Count ESPN's Heather Dinich among those who see the Vols on the outside looking in this week. Dinich projects the Vols as ranked #11 but the first team out of the bracket in her latest projection on Tuesday.
Despite being ranked 11th, the Vols are bounced out in that scenario by BYU and Boise State – both ranked behind Tennessee – getting automatic bids as projected conference champions. Tennessee appears as the fifth SEC team and right behind projected #10 seed Ole Miss and #11 seed Georgia.
As frustrating as that projection might be for Tennessee fans, that's not an unrealistic expectation for how things could go on Tuesday night. The committee chair, Warde Manuel, previously voiced concerns about the Vols' offense, which was stymied for most of the night in Athens, and a disastrous defensive showing also takes away some of the shine from the unit that had been dominant basically all season. He and the committee have also harped on the loss to Arkansas, who picked up their fifth loss of the year on Saturday in a 20-10 defeat to Texas.
At this point, it's hard to see the Vols ahead of Georgia, who beat the Vols by two touchdowns, or over a surging Ole Miss team that blew out the team that beat the Vols less than two weeks ago. It's not fair that Alabama has managed to dodge its place in the head-to-head controversy, but they were already ninth in the last projection, so it's very unlikely the Vols' 24-17 win back on October 19 will keep them ahead of the Tide.
There's still two weeks (and perhaps the SEC championship game) left to decide the field, so hope isn't at all lost for the Vols. There's still time for teams to fall. Vanderbilt getting to 7-4 by beating LSU on Saturday would help Tennessee's case as well. But for now, it seems very plausible the Vols could be the first team on the wrong side of the bubble on Tuesday night.
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