The Tennessee Vols, despite their recent win against the Alabama Crimson Tide, just can't seem to get a fair shake from ESPN. 

On Sunday, after Week 9 of the college football season wrapped up, ESPN's Heather Dinich released her updated College Football Playoff projection. 

Dinich included Tennessee in her 12-team playoff projection, listing the Vols as the No. 12 seed entering the final month of the season. 

While pointing out why Tennessee could be lower in the rankings, Dinich noted that there were "flaws" in the Vols' win over Alabama. 

"Even in its best win (against Alabama), Tennessee has shown vulnerabilities, particularly on offense and with turnovers and penalties against the Tide," wrote Dinich. "The Vols also needed overtime to beat an average-at-best Florida team."

Playoff projections with a month of the season left are, of course, completely pointless. A lot will change over the next few weeks, and the projections at the end of October will ultimately mean nothing. Still, it's always interesting to see how programs are viewed by the national media. And it's clear that ESPN's view of Tennessee is deeply flawed. 

ESPN apparently can't be fair when it comes to the Tennessee Vols

Tennessee is the No. 12 seed in Dinich's playoff projections while the Georgia Bulldogs are the No. 2 seed. That's despite the fact that both programs have similar résumés that are viewed very differently by ESPN. 

Georgia is 6-1 with a loss to a team that is now 6-2 (Alabama, which lost to Vanderbilt and Tennessee). 

Tennessee is 6-1 with a loss to a team that is now 5-3 (Arkansas, which lost in overtime to Oklahoma State as well as Texas A&M and LSU). 

The Bulldogs beat a below average Kentucky team by one point and they beat a terrible Mississippi State team 41-31 in a late afternoon home game. But there was no mention of either of those games by ESPN while discussing Georgia's playoff chances. ESPN, however, had no issue bringing up Tennessee's narrow win against the Florida Gators. 

ESPN's flawed view of Tennessee doesn't stop there. 

Dinich pointed out that the Vols' offense showed vulnerabilities "on offense and with turnovers and penalties" in its best win. 

Tennessee had 408 total yards of offense, 11 penalties, and three turnovers in that win against Alabama. 

Georgia's best win this season is against Texas. In that win, the Bulldogs had 283 total yards of offense, seven penalties, and three turnovers. And yet there was no mention from ESPN of any "vulnerabilities" for Georgia. 

And by the way, how good is that win against Texas for the Bulldogs? Texas is a good team, but their best win is against who? A 5-3 Michigan team? Or against a 4-4 Oklahoma team? Or against a Vanderbilt team that that will likely fall out of the top 25 this week? 

ESPN and the rest of the national media seem to have this idea that Tennessee can only be elite if their offense is elite. There's this narrative that Josh Heupel is a gimmicky offensive coach that can only be a threat when his teams are scoring 50 points a game. Tennessee gets dinged for winning "ugly games", while Georgia seemingly gets a pass (again, no mention of an ugly performance against Texas or barely beating a Kentucky team that is trending the wrong way). 

The truth is that the Vols are a good team. They have an elite defense. And they have an offense with a high ceiling that is hoping to hit its stride going into the final month of the regular season. 

It's clear that ESPN has a brand bias. They're blinded by Georgia's logo and past successes. ESPN is incapable of analyzing the 2024 season without their takes being polluted by what teams have accomplished in the past.  

Nothing that happened in previous seasons should have any impact on how the 2024 season is evaluated. But college football media, which is polluted with lazy takes that are nothing more than groupthink, is apparently incapable of objectivity when it comes to analyzing the sport. 

(By the way, I have no issue with Georgia being ahead of Tennessee, for now, in playoff projections. The Bulldogs' win against Clemson gives them the edge. But that win isn't enough to create this huge gap that ESPN doesn't think can be questioned.)

Unfortunately for Tennessee and the other non-media darling brands, ESPN seems to have a big influence on how the AP voters and the playoff committee ranks teams. The narratives that are formed by ESPN and other national media outlets seemingly find a way into the psyche of voters/committee members. That's why Tennessee has to do a little more than programs like Alabama, Georgia, and Texas to be recognized as an elite program. 

Indiana pass rusher makes strong statement about former Tennessee Vols QB Tayven Jackson

What a game for the former Vol