Former Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt takes a side in the Tennessee vs Alabama rankings debate
One of the biggest debates in college football right now is whether or not the Tennessee Vols should be ranked above the Alabama Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff rankings. The new rankings will be revealed on Tuesday night and if Tennessee is ranked higher than Alabama, it will mean the Vols are likely […]
One of the biggest debates in college football right now is whether or not the Tennessee Vols should be ranked above the Alabama Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff rankings.
The new rankings will be revealed on Tuesday night and if Tennessee is ranked higher than Alabama, it will mean the Vols are likely heading to the Sugar Bowl (unless UT somehow miraculously makes the top four next week).
Those who think Alabama should be ranked higher have cited Tennessee's 25-point loss to South Carolina earlier this month.
The folks in favor of the Vols being ranked higher point to Tennessee's head-to-head win against Alabama, plus the fact that UT has two wins over top 11 teams (Bama and LSU), while the Crimson Tide have none.
Former Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt, who played and coached at Alabama, gave his take on the debate this week in an interview with Dawg Nation's Mike Griffith.
Pruitt thinks one-loss Ohio State will make it in over both Alabama and Tennessee if USC loses in the Pac-12 Championship game this week (he thinks TCU is in even with a loss).
And he thinks that Tennessee, even with a healthy Hendon Hooker, would lose to Alabama if the two teams played again.
Pruitt, however, doesn't think the Vols should be ranked below the Crimson Tide in the playoff rankings.
"I believe if Alabama and Tennessee played each other again — even with Hendon Hooker being healthy — I think Alabama would win the game," said Pruitt. "But if I was choosing over those two, and I was on the committee, I would choose Tennessee for the simple fact that Tennessee won head to head. They also beat LSU, which Alabama lost to LSU."
Whether or not Alabama would beat Tennessee if the two teams played again is irrelevant. If they played again, it would be a toss-up game just like it was the first time. All that really matters is that the Vols beat the Crimson Tide this season. Pruitt sees that and even though he thinks Bama would win in a rematch, he still respects the College Football Playoff criteria (which cites head-to-head results) enough to put Tennessee ahead of Alabama.
We'll see if the committee agrees on Tuesday night.
Featured image via Matt Pendleton via Imagn Content Services
