Tennessee was the big winner of a chaotic weekend in college football just a few days ago.
The Vols’ win over UTEP combined with key teams previously ranked above them falling on Saturday moves Tennessee into a playoff position on Tuesday night.
Tennessee moved up three spots to No. 8 in the fourth edition of the College Football Playoffs Rankings update on Tuesday night. Tennessee’s No. 8 ranking puts the Vols as the nine-seed in the projected playoff bracket if the season was to end today.
Boise State, the current leader of the Mountain West conference, slides into the four-seed position despite being slotted at No. 11 in the rankings. The four highest-ranked conference champions will receive a bye in the first round despite their spots in the rankings, such as Boise State potentially being the four-seed at No. 11.
Josh Heupel’s group was previously ranked as the No. 11 team in last week’s rankings and was projected as the first team out of the playoff picture. No. 12 Clemson and No. 13 Alabama are now the first two teams out in the playoff projection heading into the final week of the regular season on Saturday.
If the season were to end today, Tennessee would be projected for an away game against eight-seed Georgia in Athens in the first round of the playoffs. The first round is played at the home team’s on-campus stadium while the quarter-finals and semi-finals will take place at bowl sites across the country. Georgia is locked into a spot in the SEC Championship game, though, and could likely move from that eight-seed in two weeks one way or another.
THE UPDATED CFP TOP 25 HAS DROPPED 👀 pic.twitter.com/p4pom73Np0
— ESPN (@espn) November 27, 2024
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Tennessee received some big help to jump up the rankings on Tuesday night. Saturday saw a handful of Top 15 teams fall including Indiana, Alabama, Ole Miss, BYU, and Texas A&M. It also cleared the five-team two-loss SEC lojgam as now Georgia and Tennessee sit as the only two-loss teams in the SEC. Georgia is ranked one spot higher than Tennessee because of its marquee wins and a head-to-head win from two weeks ago.
The big news from Tuesday’s update is that No. 8 Tennessee (9-2) jumps No. 10 Indiana (10-1) despite the Hoosiers having one fewer loss than the Vols. That shows that despite Tennessee’s additional loss, the committee sees Tennessee’s SEC resume as more credible than the Hoosiers’ one-loss Big Ten resume.
Here’s a look at how Tennessee has fared in the rankings updates throughout the season:
Tennessee Football AP/Coaches Rankings – 2024
- Week 1: #15/#15 (Result: Defeated Chattanooga 69-3)
- Week 2: #14/#12 (Result: Defeated #24/#23 NC State 51-10)
- Week 3: #7/#9 (Result: Defeated Kent State 71-0)
- Week 4: #6/#7 (Result: Defeated #15/#13 Oklahoma 25-15)
- Week 5: #5/#6 (Result: BYE)
- Week 6: #4/#4 (Result: Loss to Arkansas 19-14)
- Week 7: #8/#9 (Result: Defeated Florida 23-17 OT)
- Week 8: #11/#10 (Result: Defeated No. 7 Alabama 24-17)
- Week 9: #7/#8 (Result: BYE)
- Week 10: #7/#7 (Result: Defeated Kentucky 28-18)
(Playoff ranking included – AP/Coaches/CFP)
- Week 11: #7/#6/#7 (Result: Defeated Mississippi State 33-14)
- Week 12: #6/#4/#7 (Result: Loss to No. 12 Georgia 31-17)
- Week 13: #10/#11/#11 (Result: Defeated UTEP 56-0
- Week 14: #7/#8/#8 (Next Up: at Vanderbilt)
Tennessee is the third highest-ranked SEC team out of the eight conference teams in the Top 25: No. 3 Texas, No. 7 Georgia, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 13 Alabama, No. 14 Ole Miss, No. 15 South Carolina, No. 20 Texas A&M, and No. 21 Missouri.
Tennessee does not have a chance at playing in the SEC Championship game but the path for the Vols to stay in the playoffs is simple. Tennessee has to beat Vanderbilt in Nashville on Saturday afternoon.
Avoiding a third loss is crucial for Tennessee to stay in the rankings regardless of what happens during championship weekend. Win on Saturday and you’re in.
Vanderbilt will host No. 8 Tennessee at Noon ET on Saturday afternoon in Nashille’s FirstBank Stadium.
This story will be updated
