Tennessee almost certainly needs to win out to reach the College Football Playoff.

The Vols are 6-2 with four games remaining, and they’re currently ranked No. 13 in the CFP rankings.

There’s a chance a three-loss SEC team could make the playoff — depending on how the rest of the season plays out — but it seems unlikely that Tennessee would be that team.

Still, you never say never. Some wild scenarios could play out over the last month of the regular season that could leave the door open for a 9-3 Tennessee team to make the playoff.

The three-loss path would be very narrow for the Vols, and it would still require them to beat Kentucky this weekend.

“There’s a roundabout way Tennessee could get in at 9-3,” said the Knoxville News Sentinel’s Adam Sparks this week on The Buck Reising Show. “But it would be beating Kentucky, beating LSU, beating Vanderbilt, and losing on the road at Texas A&M. That would be the way to get in at 9-3, and there’s just a [small] chance of that. But if you lose to Kentucky, it’s over.”

According to the A to Z Sports College Football Playoff predictor, if Tennessee goes 3-1 in November with a loss to Texas A&M, they would need the following to happen for their odds to reach even 50 percent.

• Alabama loss to LSU
• Ole Miss loss to Georgia
• Texas losses to LSU and Texas A&M
• Notre Dame loss to Miami
• Wake Forest loss to SMU
• Missouri loss to Texas

So yeah, the path exists, but it’s not a path that’s lit very well for the Volunteers.