RTI contributor Noah Taylor is the author of this article
The College Football Playoff was officially introduced in 2014, but the debate to alter college football’s postseason into a playoff format raged long before then.
The four-team system that is in place now is heading into its seventh season, and there is still plenty of controversy attached to it. One camp argues that it should be expanded to eight teams while the other thinks an expansion would tarnish the importance of the regular season.
Whether the playoff ends up expanding in the future or stays the same, someone is always going to feel left out. But the never-ending parley of “what if” is a college football tradition as sacred as the Army-Navy Game or rolling Toomer’s Corner.
Since the College Football Playoff’s inception, Tennessee hasn’t come close to making an argument for getting in, but the Vols could have benefited from a playoff system numerous times in the past and possibly added to their six recognized national championships if they had made it into the playoffs.
Here are three seasons that Tennessee could have made it to the College Football Playoff based on the final Associated Press Top 25.
