A look at the projections.
So far, so good for the Tennessee Volunteers. The Nico Iamaleava era has begun with back to back blowouts, opening quite a few eyes over the past couple of weeks. Everyone knew about Tennessee’s ability on offense, but it was the defense that took them to an entirely new level last weekend.
Tennessee’s depth on the defensive line was the story as the Volunteers just manhandled NC State all night long. It’s perhaps a sign of big things to come with SEC play now just two weeks out. The Volunteers will get another tune-up game this weekend against Kent State.
Where did Tennessee’s dominant win put them in the projected College Football Playoff field? Well, despite popping up to No. 7 in the AP Poll, we have a bit of a mixed bag.
CBS Sports: Las Vegas Bowl vs. Arizona
Let’s start with the elephant in the room. Jerry Palm doesn’t have Tennessee in the playoff picture and doesn’t even mention them in his analysis. Palm instead rewarded Iowa State and Oklahoma State with projected bids after wins over Iowa and Arkansas, both who ranked lower than NC State coming into the week. I’d love to hear an explanation here, but this seems like an obvious oversight or a ploy to get engagement from Tennessee fans, which is the oldest trick in the book.
ESPN Dinich: CFP No. 10 seed at Oregon (first round)
Dinich projects Tennessee as the No. 10 team in the field following their big win over NC State. In this scenario that would send Tennessee to Eugene to face the Ducks, with the winner advancing to face projected No. 2 seed Texas.
ESPN Schlabach: CFP No. 7 seed hosting Alabama
Whew, BOY. Could you imagine a Tennessee-’Bama part two in December at Neyland Stadium? After seeing the 2022 environment and imagining what it could look like this season on top of that — a CFP matchup between the two would be otherworldly.
Schlabach has Tennessee as the winner of this projected matchup, moving on to face No. 2 seed Ohio State.
ESPN Bonagura: Citrus Bowl vs. Michigan
Bonagura projects Tennessee to miss the 12-team field, which means he finds at least three slip-ups for Tennessee on the schedule. As we’ve said all along, the three big ones (Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia) will determine Tennessee’s path to the playoff. Drop all three and you most likely won’t have a shot to make the field. The Citrus Bowl is a natural landing spot should the Vols find three losses, despite playing in the game a year ago.