College football insider says Tennessee fans need to pull for an unlikely program to help Vols' playoff hopes
The Tennessee Vols no longer control their own destiny after falling 31-17 to the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens. Tennessee is still very much alive in the 12-team College Football Playoff race, but they might need some help over the last two weeks of the regular season to earn a spot in the tournament. One outcome […]
The Tennessee Vols no longer control their own destiny after falling 31-17 to the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens.
Tennessee is still very much alive in the 12-team College Football Playoff race, but they might need some help over the last two weeks of the regular season to earn a spot in the tournament.
One outcome that would help the Vols this upcoming weekend, according to The Athletic's Stewart Mandel, would be for the Ohio State Buckeyes to blow out an undefeated Indiana Hoosiers team that doesn't have a great win on its résumé.
From The Athletic: We hereby anoint Tennessee as the first official bubble team of the 12-team era. Our best guess is the Vols, No. 7 in last week’s committee rankings, will fall to the “first one out” slot that Georgia had occupied. If not them, it may be the current No. 11 team, Ole Miss. The two in fact have similar resumes: one Top 25 win each but no other wins over teams that are currently above .500. Tennessee suffered a meh loss at Arkansas, which is now 5-5. The Rebels suffered a flat-out bad loss at home against 4-6 Kentucky. But Ole Miss has been dominant in most of its wins.
Both should root for Ohio State to hammer No. 5 Indiana next week. The currently undefeated Hoosiers would have one fewer loss but also one fewer Top 25 win. (As in, they would have none.) You can already hear the lobbying now between the Big Ten and SEC commissioners over that last at-large berth.
Rooting for Ohio State, a program that Tennessee often goes head-to-head with in recruiting battles, will probably feel unnatural for Vols fans. But it's a result that will help Tennessee's playoff hopes. Indiana, whether you think they're a deserving team or not, could potentially be the program that keeps the Vols out of the playoff. So a Buckeyes win next Saturday in Columbus is what all Tennessee fans should be rooting for.
