Bracketology has become a major part of college basketball over the decades with bracketologists like ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and CBS’ Jerry Palm putting out brackets consistently over the course of the season.
But with the College Football Playoff expanding from four to 12 teams this season, bracketology is now truly becoming a part of the college football for the first time this season.
With Tennessee ranked No. 15 in both the Preseason AP and Coaches Polls, the Vols are right in the border range of a potential College Football Playoff team ahead of 2024 season.
In fact, ESPN has Tennessee as one of its first four teams out in its College Football Playoff projections ahead of the 2024 season.
“The Vols will show improvement from a year ago, but they will be stuck on the bubble because of road losses to Oklahoma and Georgia and a possible home loss to Alabama,” ESPN’s Heather Dinich wrote. “The biggest question remains in the secondary, which struggled last season and is under construction this year.”
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Tennessee’s internal expectations are high for the 2024 season. The Vols expect to be good at the most important positions on the field including quarterback, defensive line and offensive line. Being stout at those three spots would set Tennessee up to have a successful season.
How many wins Tennessee needs to make the College Football Playoff is uncertain. The Vols posting a 9-3 record likely won’t be enough for them to make the playoffs while a 10-2 record would likely be good enough to make the expanded playoff for the first time.
In ESPN’s playoff predictions, Georgia is the top-seed followed by Ohio State, Florida State, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Alabama, Miami, Penn State and Boise State.
With three SEC teams projected to land in the playoff, all four teams in the first four out are also SEC teams with LSU, Missouri and Oklahoma joining the Vols as the teams that just miss the playoffs. The next four teams out in the projection are Michigan, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Clemson.
Tennessee football opens up its 2024 campaign on Aug. 31 when they’ll face Chattanooga at Neyland Stadium.
