Hendon Hooker, Tennessee Volunteers. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
There is still a chance for Tennessee Volunteers to do the college football game.
Despite their poor loss on the way to Georgia, there is still hope for the Tennessee Volunteers to participate in this year’s college football playoffs.
The Vols dropped from #1 all the way to #5 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. While most teams lose to Georgia these days, it still doesn’t change the fact that this loss hurts the followers of Rocky Top. The good news for Tennessee fans is that Folders weren’t disqualified from the playoff. The bad news is that they don’t control their own destiny…
Here are some scenarios where members can create a four-team field for the first time ever!
How to make Tennessee the college football playoff champion as a non-league champion
At 8-1 (4-1) with three SEC matches left, this is the path most likely to include the playoff Vols. First things first, Tennessee State needs to win its last three regular season games over Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt to have any chance of entry. From there, the Vols need Georgia to win, while the Big Ten need to win only one real nominee and two undeserved Power Five champions.
Georgia won the SEC title 13-0 and the Michigan winner at Ohio State did the same in the Big Ten serving Tennessee here. We all know the Big Ten and the SEC get at least one team on one anyway. Next, Tennessee needs a better resume on two of the other three Power Five champions in ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12 with the first two likely.
Although the TCU is the only other unbeaten team in the country, keep in mind that Clemson’s, North Carolina, and Oregon’s only losses of the season were in the non-conference. Oregon fell to Georgia hard over Labor Day weekend, while Clemson and North Carolina lost to Notre Dame on separate occasions. USC, UCLA, and even Utah are still alive because he finished in Pac-12…
Overall, Tennessee has to root for the TCU to bring down the Big 12 and keep ACC fairly nice. Vols might carry gravity on an ACC or Big 12 in this scenario, but probably not the Pac-12. Regardless, Tennessee needs to undoubtedly look better on two of the three Power Five champions. Style points are very important in this scenario.
And the final warning is what to do about the loser in the game between Michigan and Ohio. This unfortunate team might fall into the same group as Tennessee as a single losing undivided champion. Neither the Buckeyes nor the Wolverines will have the thirteenth data point either, so again, style points matter a lot. Tennessee also needs to root for Ohio here…
The reason for this is that Wolverines have an incredibly weak non-conference roster. Tennessee will be rewarded for beating Pete on the road, while the Wolverines will be brought down to play in Colorado State, Hawaii and Ocon. As for Ohio, the Buckeyes will be rewarded for hosting Notre Dame at the non-conference. Tennessee will outperform Michigan, but Ohio will probably not.
Tennessee has a solid resume, but the Division or SEC championship won’t hurt them in the end.
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