Warde Manuel definitively addresses if Nico Iamaleava's injury impacted Tennessee's spot in College Football Playoff rankings

In the first College Football Playoff rankings last week, Tennessee came in at No. 7. Despite a resounding victory over Mississippi State, the Volunteers stayed put even though Indiana and BYU both moved up – and the concern is now Nico Iamaleava’s injury.

Iamaleava is in concussion protocol, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported, after missing the second half of last week’s victory. However, CFP committee chairman Warde Manuel definitively said Iamaleava’s departure did not factor into the decision to keep Tennessee at No. 7.

As for why the Volunteers didn’t move, Manuel said it comes down to the committee’s goal of seeing the whole body of work. He noted the up-and-down season the offense has had, coupled with Indiana’s dominant year and BYU’s marquee victory over Utah last week, as well as the win over SMU. Those, he said, were the separators.

“I can say no to the injury to Tennessee’s quarterback. Had nothing to do with it,” Manuel said on a post-rankings show teleconference. “It really came down to the play last week of both Indiana and BYU, both winning big games on their schedule. Tennessee, the offense has struggled some the second half of the season, not been consistent early in the year.

“We just felt as a committee that at this time, Indiana has been playing very well – a close win against Michigan, but other than that, they’ve dominated everyone they’ve played. BYU, obviously, undefeated. Two wins against Top-25 opponents, at SMU and against Kansas State. In looking at it as we assessed all the teams, we just felt that Indiana and BYU earned the 5 and the 6 slot, and Tennessee stayed where they are.”

A look at Tennessee, BYU, Indiana resumes

Tennessee’s rushing offense has been one of the best in the nation this year, averaging 235.1 yards on the ground entering Week 12. The passing game, however, is still finding a rhythm as Nico Iamaleava goes through his first year as the starter. The Vols are currently averaging 236.4 passing yards, which ranks 59th in the FBS. Still, their 37.6 points per game rank No. 15 in the country.

On the flip side, Indiana has been nothing short of dominant to start the Curt Cignetti era. The Hoosiers rank No. 23 in the nation in passing offense with 276.5 yards per game and No. 2 in scoring with 43.9 points on average. With last week’s win over Michigan, they made history with their first-ever 10-0 start heading into a bye week before a pivotal game against Ohio State.

As for BYU, the Cougars are one of four undefeated teams remaining and leading an interesting Big 12 race. They don’t rank as high as Tennessee or Indiana in the key stats categories – 56th in the nation in total offense, 55th in passing, 62nd in rushing and 27th in scoring – but some key victories have propelled them up the rankings and into contention for a conference title.

An opportunity awaits for Tennessee this week. The Vols will head to Athens to take on Georgia as they hope to add another Top-25 win to their resume.