Thanks to the College Football Playoff, November has officially turned into a month of politicking for college football head coaches. 

And now that the playoff has expanded to 12 teams, even more coaches are using their time in front of a microphone to state their team's case to be included in the playoff. 

Except for Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel. 

While coaches like Georgia's Kirby Smart are using every opportunity when on camera to send a message to the playoff committee, Heupel is taking a different approach. 

The fourth-year Tennessee head coach is instead taking the "it's out of our control" stance on the rankings. 

“End of the day, we have no control over the rankings," said Heupel on Wednesday during the weekly SEC coaches teleconference. "There’s still a lot of football to be played and we can’t control those things. We can control our preparation, how we practice, how we get better, and getting ready to go play good football. I’ve been on both sides of it, where you look like you got a chance to be in. You look like you’re out. The reality is there’s two more weeks of regular-season play and conference championship games after that. So for us, man, focus on what we can control. Said that to the players today before we tipped off and thought we had a really good day on the grass."

From a pure football standpoint, this is the right approach by Heupel. Eliminate outside distractions and focus on what Tennessee can control — which is winning games. 

However, it's also worth pointing out that Tennessee, which is 8-2 at the moment (the same record as Ole Miss, Alabama, and Georgia), is currently the first team out of the playoff. If anyone needs to do some politicking, it's probably the Vols. 

Would it help Tennessee's case? 

That's anyone's guess — the playoff committee has been remarkably inconsistent with how they rank teams. I don't know if Heupel pleading his case would make much of a difference. But maybe it would. You never know until you try. 

I like Heupel's approach. I like the idea of focusing only on what you can control. But at the same time, the current playoff system almost demands that coaches get on ESPN every chance they get to plead their case. 

Smart is a national championship winning coach and his team often gets the benefit of the doubt (and that's something Georgia has earned) and yet he still feels the need to plead his case and keep the committee in check via his media opportunities. 

It may not be something Heupel wants to do, and I totally get that, but it might be the best thing for Tennessee's playoff chances. 

ESPN’s Greg McElroy makes statement about the Tennessee Vols that the College Football Playoff committee needs to hear

Important comments from Greg McElroy