ESPN predicts Tennessee to be one of 'first four out' for 12-team College Football Playoff
ESPN believes Tennessee Football will be a bubble team for the first 12-team College Football Playoff, but the Vols will ultimately be one of the first four teams left out. LSU, Missouri and Oklahoma were also predicted to just miss the playoff.
“The Vols will show improvement from a year ago,” ESPN Senior Writer Heather Dinich wrote, “but they will be stuck on the bubble because of road losses to Oklahoma and Georgia and a possible home loss to Alabama. The biggest question remains in the secondary, which struggled last season and is under construction this year.”
ESPN’s prediction for the 12 playoff teams included first-round byes for No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Florida State and No. 4 Utah. The first-round matchups were No.12 Boise State at No. 5 Texas, No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Ole Miss, No. 11 Penn State at No. 6 Oregon and No. 10 Miami at No. 7 Notre Dame.
ESPN’s next four out, after LSU, Missouri, Tennessee and Oklahoma, were Michigan, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Clemson.
Vols ranked No. 14 in ESPN College Football Preseason Power Rankings
Tennessee is ranked No. 14 in ESPN’s College Football Preseason Power Rankings, one spot ahead of where the Vols were ranked in both the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 and US LBM Preseason Coaches Poll in recent weeks.
Four opponents on Tennessee’s schedule made ESPN’s top 25, with No. 1 Georgia coming in ahead of No. 5 Alabama, No. 17 Oklahoma and No. 20 North Carolina State.
ESPN’s Football Power Index has Tennessee ranked No. 9 overall with a projected win-loss of 8.6-3.5. The FPI gives the Vols a 95.4% chance to win at least six games, a 5.5% chance to win the SEC, a 36.9% chance to make the 12-team College Football Playoff, a 6.0% chance to make the national championship game and a 2.7% chance to win the national title.
Tennessee was ranked No. 15 in ESPN’s final preseason SP+ rankings last week with an overall rating of 19.2, an offensive rating of 37.7, defensive rating of 18.6 and special teams ratings of 0.2.
Season Opener: No. 15 Tennessee vs. Chattanooga, August 31
Tennessee opens the season against Chattanooga on August 31 (12:45 p.m. Eastern Time, TV: SEC Network) and faces North Carolina State on September 7 in Charlotte (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC),
After hosting Kent State on September 14, the Vols open SEC play with road games at Oklahoma (September 21) and at Arkansas (October 5).
Tennessee hosts Florida and Alabama back-to-back on October 12 and October 19, respectively, then has home games against Kentucky (November 2) and Mississippi State (November 9) before going to Georgia on November 16.
