ESPN College GameDay personality predicts where Tennessee Vols will land in final rankings
The Tennessee Vols finished No. 6 in the final College Football Playoff rankings before bowl season, but thanks to their win against the Clemson Tigers in the Orange Bowl, UT should climb a couple of spots in the final rankings of the 2022 season. After beating Clemson, there was a chance that Tennessee could climb […]
The Tennessee Vols finished No. 6 in the final College Football Playoff rankings before bowl season, but thanks to their win against the Clemson Tigers in the Orange Bowl, UT should climb a couple of spots in the final rankings of the 2022 season.
After beating Clemson, there was a chance that Tennessee could climb to No. 3 in the rankings.
TCU's win over Michigan, however, likely means that the Vols won't jump either of those teams (I doubt UT jumps a one-loss Michigan).
But Tennessee should jump Alabama (Vols should've been ranked above them anyway), after beating a higher-ranked team in the bowl game (Clemson was ranked No. 7 while Kansas State, which lost to Bama, was ranked No. 9).
The Vols should also jump Ohio State, which now has two losses. Tennessee has better wins than Ohio State, which should make that an easy call.
ESPN's Chris "Bear" Fallica, an ESPN College GameDay personality, somewhat agrees.
Fallica has the Vols at No. 5 in his final rankings, just behind Ohio State and ahead of Alabama.
Tennessee's win over Alabama is better than any win Ohio State had this season, so I'm not sure how he can justify putting the Buckeyes over the Vols.
Additionally, Tennessee won their bowl game by 17 points against the No. 7 team in the nation without four of the best players (Hendon Hooker, Jalin Hyatt, Jeremy Banks, and Cedric Tillman).
That's worthy of being ahead of Ohio State.
We'll see how the rankings fall next week after the championship game between Georgia and TCU, but it feels like a certainty that Tennessee will finish the season ranked inside the top five for the first time since 2001.
Featured image via USA TODAY Sports
