After first College Football Playoff rankings reveal, it appears there are 3 possible playoff outcomes for the Tennessee Vols
The initial 2024 College Football Playoff rankings were revealed on Tuesday night and the Tennessee Vols came in at No. 7. Tennessee would be the No. 8 seed in the bracket, due to BYU rising to the No. 4 seed as the projected winner of the Big 12, which means the Vols would host Indiana […]
The initial 2024 College Football Playoff rankings were revealed on Tuesday night and the Tennessee Vols came in at No. 7.
Tennessee would be the No. 8 seed in the bracket, due to BYU rising to the No. 4 seed as the projected winner of the Big 12, which means the Vols would host Indiana in Knoxville in a first round playoff game.
The initial rankings don't mean much — there should be plenty of movement over the next few weeks depending on how games play out — but they at least give us an idea of how the playoff committee views the top contenders.
When it comes to Tennessee, it appears, at least based on these first rankings, that there are three realistic playoff scenarios that could be in play for the Vols (four if you count the disaster scenario of losing multiple games in November and not making the playoff).
1. Tennessee wins out in the regular season and wins the SEC Championship game and earns the No. 1 or No. 2 overall seed: This would obviously be the preferred scenario for the Vols. And it's very much in play. The biggest obstacle is obviously a game against Georgia in Athens. Winning the SEC Championship game wouldn't be easy, but it would be more than doable if the Vols take down Georgia in Sanford Stadium.
2. Tennessee wins out in the regular season and loses in the SEC Championship game: This would be a great scenario as well for the Vols. If they finish the regular season at 11-1 with a road win against Georgia, they shouldn't be penalized too much for losing in the SEC Championship game (especially if it's a close loss). If this scenario plays out, I could see the Vols as the No. 5 or No. 6 seed, which would be a good spot to be in. It would mean Tennessee would host one of the lower seeded teams in a first round playoff game. If they win that game, they would then play either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the quarterfinals.
3. Tennessee loses another regular season game: This is where it gets tricky. If Tennessee loses to Georgia in Athens but wins their other three remaining games, they'd finish at 10-2. That should be good enough to get into the playoff, but there's no guarantee that they would sneak in. If the Vols do get into the playoff in this scenario, however, they would almost certainly be the No. 11 or No. 12 seed, which would mean playing on the road in the first round.
