The Tennessee Vols lost a frustrating game on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa.

Tennessee’s defense didn’t tackle well, and it committed far too many penalties — a couple of which completely changed the way drives played out.

Regardless of the reasons for the 37-20 loss, the Vols are now 5-2, and their College Football Playoff hopes are officially on life support.

Based on what we saw last season, an SEC team likely needs to go 10-2 to reach the playoff. It’s possible that a 9-3 team could get in, but we haven’t seen that yet. And the Vols probably wouldn’t get in at 9-3 because they wouldn’t have a signature win.

Tennessee’s loss to Alabama means an absolute nightmare scenario is officially in play now for the Volunteers

Tennessee essentially needs to win out to reach the playoffs.

The good news is that it’s doable. The Vols’ toughest opponent the rest of the season is Oklahoma — and that game is in Knoxville.

The bad news is that Tennessee still has to travel to the Swamp in late November for a matchup against Florida.

And Tennessee hasn’t won in Gainesville since 2003.

So that means the Vols’ playoff hopes will come down to getting a win in the Swamp for the first time in 22 years.

That is not ideal.

Tennessee can still reach the College Football Playoff. It can still make a deep post-season run. But it’ll have to exorcise some demons in Gainesville to get that opportunity.

Tennessee Volunteers News

Tennessee Vols QB Joey Aguilar was on the wrong side of a very dirty play by the Alabama Crimson Tide

Tennessee Vols quarterback Joey Aguilar was on the wrong side of a dirty hit from an Alabama defender

Zach Ragan