‘Where would Tennessee be then’ – ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt had some strong words about where Tennessee is ranked in the College Football Playoff rankings
The Tennessee Volunteers were ranked No. 13 in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings, eight spots behind the Alabama Crimson Tide.
You can add ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt to the growing list of folks who are absolutely bewildered by Tennessee being ranked eight spots below Alabama in the initial College Football Playoff rankings.
Tennessee and Alabama are both 6-2, and the Vols beat the Crimson Tide 26-10 a couple of weeks ago in Knoxville.
Yet Alabama is ranked No. 5 and Tennessee is ranked No. 13.
The reason given by the committee is that Alabama’s win over Mississippi State put them in a different “pod” than Tennessee, which, in their eyes, doesn’t bring the head-to-head result between the two programs into the equation.
Van Pelt, like almost everyone else outside of Tuscaloosa, doesn’t understand it.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” said Van Pelt. “Alabama played them. Tennessee beat them by double digits and one is No. 5 and one is No. 13 with the same record because of the strength of record. They played! Rocky Top won by 16. I think that there’s an institutional buy-in in Alabama at the moment. I don’t have a problem at all with them being one of the 12. I have a specific problem with one being No. 5 and one being No. 13 when they played and they lost. It’s the same thing as Notre Dame and Miami last year.
“I’m a man of principle. If Alabama played Tennessee in T-town and beat them by 16 and they had the same record, where would Tennessee be then? No. 60? They won and one is No. 5 and one is No. 13”
“I have an idea,” added Van Pelt. “How about you compare them? Because they played, and one team beat the s–t out of the other one. How about you cluster them.”
You know the committee has messed up when the entire national media is siding with Tennessee. It’s very, very rare that we ever see that happen.
