Josh Heupel reacts to Tennessee falling to No. 11 in latest College Football Playoff ranking

Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings provided some clarity, specifically for SEC teams. Tennessee is one of the few of the conference’s two-loss teams and found themselves slotted at No. 11 following a loss to Georgia. The Vols fell four spots and are behind Alabama (despite having a head-to-head win), Georgia, and Ole Miss but well ahead of Texas A&M.

Head coach Josh Heupel gave his reaction to Tennessee’s rankings, knowing there is nothing they can control at the moment. His focus appears to be on closing the season out strong. Two games remain for Heupel, beginning with UTEP on Saturday.

“At the end of the day, we have no control over the rankings,” Heupel said. “There’s still a lot of football to be played. We can’t control those things. We can control our preparation, how we practice, how we get better, and get ready to go play good football.

“I’ve been on both sides of it where you look like you got a chance to get in, looks like you’re out. The reality is, there’s two more weeks of regular season play and conference championships after that. So, for us, focused on what we can control and said that to the players today.”

If the College Football Playoff were to start today, Tennessee would be the first team out. Two conference champions ranked behind them, Boise State and BYU, would get in ahead of them due to an automatic qualifier. With a difficult path to the SEC Championship game, earning at at-large bid will likely be required for Tennessee.

Committee chair Warde Manuel explained Tennessee’s ranking, saying it’s “splitting hairs” between other SEC teams. He admitted the decision was a difficult one but still placed the Vols below other two-loss conference members.

“Well, one, they just had a loss to Georgia, and they had the loss at Arkansas,” Manuel said. “It’s really splitting hairs. They have great offense, great defense. They play hard. The committee just had a hard time. You’re talking about four really good teams, when you look at Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee.”

For now, Heupel knows there is nothing he can do about where his team ranks. There will be no CFP appearance if Tennessee cannot close the year out with two wins against UTEP and Vanderbilt. Get across the finish line and the campaigning might begin from Knoxville.