Rivalry week in college football didn’t have quite as much chaos as last week did but there was still thrilling games and mayhem that affected the College Football Playoff race.
Georgia survived a major scare against Georgia Tech on Friday night to remain in pole position to make the playoffs. South Carolina defeated Clemson in a thriller to cloud the playoff bubble and to join Alabama and Ole Miss as 9-3 SEC teams.
But the rivalry week result most relevant to Tennessee was Michigan shocking No. 2 Ohio State 13-10 in Columbus. The Wolverines were 20-point underdogs before shocking the college football world for their fourth straight win over Ohio State?
So how does it affect Tennessee’s changes to make the College Football Playoffs?
That is somewhat up in the air. The big question is whether No. 8 Tennessee will jump the Buckeyes in the rankings. Both teams are 10-2 with similar losses. Tennessee lost at Georgia and at Arkansas. Ohio State lost at Oregon and at home versus Michigan.
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Tennessee has one really strong win over Alabama while Ohio State has home wins over both Penn State and Indiana. So on paper, the Buckeyes have a slightly better resume than Tennessee. But the College Football Playoff committee has often valued the latest results more than what happened earlier in the season. If that trend continues, it would be very good for Tennessee.
The Vols being ranked ahead of Ohio State is their best chance to host a playoff game. Notre Dame defeating Southern Cal and Texas defeating Texas A&M blocked the two other most likely paths to Tennessee hosting a playoff game at Neyland Stadium.
But one other scenario has now come into play. Penn State (11-1, 8-1 Big 10) is now in the Big 10 Championship game against Oregon. The Nittany Lions best wins this season are at home against Illinois and at Southern Cal. If Oregon beats Penn State in the conference championship, Tennessee could potentially jump the Nittany Lions in the playoff rankings.
The Vols could also jump Georgia (10-2, 6-2 SEC) if Texas beats the Bulldogs in the SEC Championship. However, that seems less likely give the Bulldogs have a number of quality wins and own the head-to-head result.
Tennessee will get more clarity about its College Football Playoff standing when the latest rankings release on Tuesday night. The official bracket comes on Sunday, Dec. 8 after the conference championship games are complete.
