Tennessee landed at No. 11 in the College Football Playoffs rankings update on Tuesday night but is listed as the first team out in the projected playoff bracket.
Despite being ranked in the Top 12, Tennessee is jumped by No. 12 Boise State and No. 13 BYU in the playoff bracket as the first-place teams in the Mountian West Conference and the Big 12, respectively.
The other big news on Tuesday was that Tennessee was ranked behind the trio of two-loss SEC teams that have been in recent playoff conversations. Despite a win over Alabama, Tennessee trails Alabama at No. 7, Ole Miss at No. 9, and Georgia at No. 10.
Tuesday’s rankings indicate that Tennessee won’t be able to jump any of its two-loss SEC counterparts without a loss from one of them but the door is still open. As the first team out, Tennessee needs to win out its final two regular-season games against UTEP and Vanderbilt and needs one of the non-conference champion teams above them to drop a game.
The two candidates that Tennessee fans should be rooting extra hard for on Saturday would be Florida to upset Ole Miss in Gainesville and Army to upset Notre Dame in New York.
Even though Tennessee’s ranking behind Alabama, Ole Miss, and Georgia was fairly expected on Tuesday night, social media was still filled with convincing takes about the Vols’ spot in the playoff picture with just two weeks left on the schedule.
More from RTI: Tennessee Lands As First Team Out in Tuesday College Football Playoffs Rankings Update
Here’s a look at some of the reactions from the social media world on Tuesday night after the rankings were released.
So, Warde Manuel is asked what is ‘carrying the day’ when it comes to arguments over @CFBPlayoff rankings
Sounds like ‘We’re not really worried about what transpired a month or two ago’ pic.twitter.com/GL8lnNdHTM
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) November 20, 2024
Could Texas fall 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙 Tennessee if the Longhorns lose to Texas A&M in College Station??#HookEm pic.twitter.com/0b46TOqpLr
— Always College Football (@AlwaysCFB) November 20, 2024
Said this on the RTI Press Pass Podcast last week but Ole Miss being ranked ahead of Georgia and Alabama being ranked ahead of Tennessee are completely conflicting in logic.
— Ryan Schumpert (@rschump00) November 20, 2024
The entirety of the Tennessee fan base at approximately noon Saturday: pic.twitter.com/5pUkntnzjj
— Tucker Harlin (@TuckerHarlin) November 20, 2024
The Vols just need to take care of their business and do it well. The rest will play out.
Notre Dame vs Army is a huge game in Yankee Stadium! What an event that will be.
Vol Nation has your back Black Knights!! Go Army!— Scott in NC 🍊 (@RooVol) November 20, 2024
So every team is ranked above the team they beat, except Alabama is four spots above Tennessee, who beat them head to head and has the same record. Also, Mizzou! still ranked and doesn’t move after the loss. And big debate will be where Indiana ranks if Hoosiers lose to OSU.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) November 20, 2024
My #CFBPlayoff Rankings take:
All teams ranked 7-11
– Bama
– Miami
– Ole Miss
– Georgia
– TennesseeWould beat all teams ranked 3-6
– Texas
– Penn St
– Indiana
– Notre Dame— Austin Stanley (@AustinStanley81) November 20, 2024
doesn’t hold a candle to the entire state being Florida fans on Saturday https://t.co/apRxtSJMmh
— @GrantRamey (@GrantRamey) November 20, 2024
Being the first team out of the playoffs with two weeks left plus conference championship games isn’t a bad place to be. Win the next two and it should work out for the Vols.
— Reed Carringer (@ReedCarringer) November 20, 2024
Committee keeping 7-3 Missouri, whose best win is Vanderbilt at home, in the top 25 so Alabama has an additional top 25 win is classic stuff. https://t.co/sXBoNCAV7N
— Ryan Schumpert (@rschump00) November 20, 2024
If Notre Dame loses another game, there’s no question they should be out.
Shouldn’t even be a conversation point.
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) November 20, 2024
Georgia moves up 2 spots to 10 after beating Tennessee. Alabama moves up 3 spots to 7 after beating Mercer
Tennessee, who beat Alabama, is ranked 11th
This committee listened to the most in-season criticism ever this past week, and somehow dropped rankings that… I don’t know?
— Graham Coffey (@GrahamCoffeyDC) November 20, 2024
I see the final at-large spot in the Playoff coming down to:
◻️11-1 Indiana
◻️10-2 Tennessee
◻️AND (if they lose ACC title) 11-2 MiamiIndiana: 0 ranked wins, #77 schedule
Tennessee: 1 ranked win (Top 10 Alabama), #35 sched
Miami: 0 ranked wins, #59 sched✅ Tennessee
— Pick Six Previews (@PickSixPreviews) November 20, 2024
Why is Tennessee “The Bubble Team” and not Ole Miss?
Worst loss…5-5 Arkansas on road OR 4-6 Kentucky at Home?
Just asking. @NextRoundLive @Vol_Football @OleMissFB #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/xVAj34f8IF— Jim Dunaway (@jimdunaway) November 18, 2024
11 isn’t the worst place to be, anybody in front of Tennessee loses, and you are in. No one directly behind you is a threat to jump into the top 10 without claiming an automatic bid.
— Brian Rice (@briancrice) November 20, 2024
Vanderbilt will almost certainly need to beat Tennessee to eliminate them from the playoffs
— Barstool Vandy (@BarstoolVandy) November 20, 2024
