The Tennessee Vols won't know what bowl game they're playing in for another week.

Tennessee, like most other teams, will watch the conference championship games this weekend knowing they're at the mercy of the College Football Playoff ranking committee.

The Vols almost certainly won't play in the College Football Playoff. Even if this weekend gets crazy (Michigan, TCU, and USC losing), it's still unlikely that Tennessee would be able to jump into the top four of the rankings.

Those rankings, however, still matter when it comes to the Volunteers.

The Sugar Bowl, perhaps the most prestigious bowl game that isn't part of the playoff, will automatically select the highest-ranked SEC team that doesn't make the playoff.

Thanks to LSU's surprising loss to Texas A&M this past weekend, it will be either Alabama or Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl.

And the debate over who should be ranked higher has been raging for the last 24-48 hours.

Alabama fans think the Crimson Tide should be ranked higher because of the Vols' 25-point loss on the road against South Carolina.

Tennessee fans, meanwhile, feel like the Vols should be ranked higher because they beat Alabama head-to-head and they have better wins than the Tide.

ESPN's Peter Burns, an SEC Network Studio Anchor, is team Tennessee in this debate.

Food for thought:

The CFB Selection committee lists 5 pieces of criteria when determining their rankings:

Strength of Schedule
Head to Head Result
Top 25 Results
Results vs Common Opponents

Tennessee > Alabama is every single category

— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) November 28, 2022

While I feel like the Vols should be ranked higher than Alabama, there's actually some advantage to being ranked lower.

The Sugar Bowl, which is played in New Orleans, might be more prestigious, but the Orange Bowl might be the better option for Tennessee.

If the Vols play in the Sugar Bowl, it'll be an 11:00 AM CT kickoff and they'll likely play Kansas State.

The Orange Bowl would be an 8:00 PM ET kickoff in Miami. And Tennessee would probably play Clemson.

Not only would the hype for that game be fun (lots of orange puns), but it would give the Vols a chance at some revenge for Dabo Swinney's recent comments about UT losing to South Carolina.

So would Tennessee prefer to play in the more prestigious bowl, or would they rather have a shot at Clemson?

That matchup against Clemson would certainly be fun. And it would give the Vols a chance to add one more "college football giant" to the list of teams they knocked off this season.

Featured image via Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK