National college football analyst says Tennessee Vols deserve to be above Penn State in final playoff rankings
After the completion of the conference championship games on Saturday night, ESPN predicted that the Tennessee Vols will be the No. 9 seed in the College Football Playoff bracket and will face the Ohio State Buckeyes on the road. On3's Andy Staples isn't on the same page as ESPN when it comes to where the […]
After the completion of the conference championship games on Saturday night, ESPN predicted that the Tennessee Vols will be the No. 9 seed in the College Football Playoff bracket and will face the Ohio State Buckeyes on the road.
On3's Andy Staples isn't on the same page as ESPN when it comes to where the Vols should be seeded.
Staples thinks that Tennessee should be slotted above Penn State which would mean the Vols would host the Nittany Lions in a playoff game at Neyland Stadium.
The longtime college football analyst/writer noted that Tennessee was better this season against good teams than Penn State.
Team A in Staples' example is Penn State. Team B is Tennessee.
If Tennessee had a tougher schedule and has better wins, why would they not be above Penn State?
The only answer that's remotely logical is because of the Vols' road loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks earlier this season.
Tennessee's loss to Arkansas, though, shouldn't be enough for Penn State to land a home game over the Vols (especially since UT was undefeated at home this season, a factor that the committee should consider).
When the records are similar, as is the case with Penn State and Tennessee, then the team that has the better wins should be ranked higher. It's that simple. Staples gets it. Even Fox Sports analyst/Big 10 advocate Joel Klatt gets it.
Tennessee should have a home playoff game later this month. If they don't, it will be because the committee, which is chaired by a current Big 10 athletic director, didn't do the job they were charged to do.
