Tennessee gets less than perfect news during penultimate College Football Playoff rankings reveal

The Tennessee Volunteers know where they stand with the final College Football Playoff rankings just days away: one spot away from a catbird seat. And it appears they’re likely stuck there.

The second to last rankings were revealed on Tuesday night, and the Vols checked in at #7 in the rankings. Problem is, the move of conference champions into first round byes bumps the Vols down two spots in the seedings, meaning they are the 9 seed and thus must go on the road. Their destination? 8 seed Ohio State.

For those wondering if Tennessee could climb above Ohio State based on other happenings over championship weekend, it’s not likely. Committee chair Warde Manuel said after the reveal that teams not playing on Saturday in championship games won’t have their rankings affected, quoting there being no new “data points” for those teams.

That’s……not exactly correct, but ok, Warde. If a team playing in a conference championship game gets their doors blown off, that affects a potential at-large’s resume via a ripple effect.

But apparently it won’t with this committee. As such, unless something like Penn State or Georgia getting dog walked on Saturday and plummeting, this matchup is set for the Vols.

That’s a really unfortunate turn of events, with Ohio State falling just 4 spots after losing at home as a 21-point favorite. By comparison, Miami fell 6 spots after losing by 4 at #22 Syracuse last weekend. Tennessee fell five spots after losing at current #5 Georgia in a game the Vols were down by a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Trying to find consistency with this committee is like trying to find the corner of a circular room. Unfortunately, as a result, Tennessee fans hoping to see their team play in Knoxville will instead have to find hotel reservations in Columbus, Ohio for the weekend of December 21.