Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde is a longtime nemesis of Tennessee Vols fans, but the two sides are on the same page this week.

Forde revealed his updated College Football Playoff rankings on Sports Illustrated’s YouTube channel and he has Tennessee firmly inside the top 10.

He also made some comments about the Vols’ 34-6 win over Kentucky that Tennessee fans will enjoy.

“That just looked like every other Kentucky game against Tennessee,” said Forde. “It didn’t look like a special Kentucky team. And hey, they’ve had a good season. A really good season. Kudos to Will Stein. 7-1 is phenomenal. But they went down to Knoxville and played just like a team coached by Jerry Claiborne, Bill Curry, Hal Mumme, Guy Morriss, Rich Brooks, Joker Phillips, and Mark Stoops.

“All Kentucky teams go to Knoxville and get thumped like this. This was a 28-point beating. … Kudos to Tennessee. Tennessee, a little bit under the radar, is prominently in the playoff mix at this point.”

As for Forde’s rankings?

He has Tennessee at No. 8, one spot above Alabama.

“I’ve got Georgia at No. 1,” said Forde. “Georgia is No. 1 clearly, and Utah is No. 2 clearly. … I’ve got UCLA at No. 3. … I’ve got Notre Dame at No. 4. I’ve got Miami at No. 5. I have Texas at No. 6, Indiana at No. 7, Tennessee at No. 8, Alabama at No. 9, Wake Forest at No. 10. And no, I will not apologize for that.

“BYU at No. 11, and Boise State at No. 12. And I think the list after that gets more narrow. That’s the part where this weekend I think helped the committee because I think it really stratified. Now, there’s going to be enough other upsets and losses that they’ll get hard again. But I think this week is fairly easy (for the committee).”

Most analysts believe that Tennessee should be ranked above Alabama. We’ll see if the committee feels the same on Tuesday night.

For one week, though, Vols fans and Forde are allies. Who would’ve thought it?