College football, whether fans like it or not, is now a tournament sport.

Long gone are the days when the regular season determined who would play for the national championship.

Now, the regular season just determines if a team gets a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff (beginning next season it will be a 24-team playoff).

So basically, college football is now like every other sport.

And it’s not changing.

Still, there are plenty of fans who miss the BCS era.

If you’re a Tennessee fan who misses the BCS era, you should probably know that entering November, the Vols would have very little chance to play for the national championship if that’s how college football’s postseason still worked.

According to BCSKnowHow, the Vols would be ranked No. 16 in the BCS rankings.

This week’s simulated BCS rankings are here as Miami and Ohio State hold on to the top two spots, while the rest of the top 25 sees plenty of reshuffling compared to last week’s edition: pic.twitter.com/wJmlMIW169

— BCSKnowHow.com (@BCSKnowHow) October 26, 2026

Tennessee would need to win out and they’d need some chaos to have any chance to get into the top two.

As it stands now, though, the Vols essentially control their own destiny. If they go 4-0 in November, they’ll almost certainly be in the playoff.