Bowl Projections: Two opponents are popular picks for Tennessee in College Football Playoff
The chaos on Saturday — Ole Miss losing at Florida, Indiana losing at Ole Miss, Alabama losing at Oklahoma — put Tennessee squarely back in the mix for a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff, after the Vols were the first team out of the bracket last week.
This week there are two popular projections for Tennessee in the first round: Penn State and Texas. Both were listed as possible opponents for the Vols by multiple media outlets.
On3’s Andy Staples and ESPN’s Mark Schlabach both projected Tennessee to go to Texas in the first round, both with the Vols as the No. 9 seed in the bracket and Texas as the No. 8.
“Fans at Neyland Stadium did the Gator chomp after Florida beat Ole Miss and opened an at-large spot for the Volunteers,” Staples wrote. “Little did anyone know Oklahoma would throttle Alabama and open up another — while devaluing the Vols’ best win.
“The Indiana-Tennessee argument that raged last week probably is moot because they’re both probably in, and they’re both probably going on the road.”
Tennessee at Vanderbilt, Saturday, Noon ET, ABC
Staples also noted that Texas dropping into the first round, and missing out of a bye into the quarterfinals as the SEC Champion, would be a product of Texas beating Texas A&M this week, but losing to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.
“If they win their next two,” Staples wrote, “they’ll be the No. 2 seed.”
Tennessee (9-2, 5-2 SEC) goes to Vanderbilt (6-5, 3-4) on Saturday (Noon Eastern Time, ABC) needing a win to seemingly clinch a playoff spot.
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The Vols would likely need more chaos on Saturday, along with a win at Vandy, to get closer to hosting a playoff game in the first round. Teams seeded 5-8 host playoff games on campus against teams seeded 9-12.
Tennessee has never played on road at Penn State or at Texas
A road game at Penn State is the most popular playoff projection. The Action Network has No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Penn State, ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura has the Vols as the No. 10 seed at No. 7 Penn State, as do CBS Sports and Bleacher Report. USA Today also had Tennessee going to Penn State.
Tennessee and Penn State have played on five times, with the Vols winning the first two meetings, at Neyland Stadium in 1971 and 1972. The Nittany Lions won in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day 1992, in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day 1994 and in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day 2007.
Tennessee and Texas have played only three times and haven’t matched up since 1969. All three meetings were in the Cotton Bowl, with Tennessee winning on New Year’s Day 1951 and Texas winning on New Year’s Day in 1953 and 1969.
