Bowl Projections: Where Tennessee could be headed if Vols miss College Football Playoff
Tennessee is on the wrong side of the College Football Playoff bubble after the 31-17 loss at Georgia Saturday night, according to ESN’s updated bowl projections. The Vols were projected to go to the Citrus Bowl by ESPN’s Kyle Bongura and to the Gator Bowl by Mark Schlabach.
“The most interesting reveal in the CFP committee’s next rankings Tuesday night will be what it does with Tennessee,” Bonagura wrote. “Losing to Georgia might have effectively eliminated the Volunteers from the playoff, but so long as they are one of the five SEC teams with two losses, nothing is certain.
“For now, it looks like they will drop behind Texas, Alabama, Ole Miss and Georgia, but with a win against Alabama, there is a case to minimize the drop.”
No. 10 Tennessee vs. UTEP, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, SEC Network+
Bonagura had Tennessee matched up against Iowa in the Citrus Bowl, the same teams that went to Orlando last season, with the Vols winning 35-0. Schlabach had the Vols in the Gator Bowl against Syracuse, a matchup that is on the 2025 Tennessee schedule on August 30 in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta.
Some projections still have Tennessee in the 12-team playoff bracket.
CBS Sports has the Vols as the No. 11 seed, going on the road in the first round to face No. 6 Penn State.
“Ole Miss misses out in this projection,” Jerry Palm wrote, “while Tennessee is the last team in the bracket.”
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CBS had Ohio State as the No. 1 seed, ahead of No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Miami and No. 4 Boise State.
The other first-round matchups were No. 12 Colorado at No. 5 Oregon, No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 7 Georgia and No. 9 Indiana at No. 8 Texas. The Tennessee-Penn State winner in the CBS projection would advance to face No. 3 Miami in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta in the quarterfinal round.
The Athletic: Tennessee could fall to Las Vegas Bowl if Vols miss playoff
The Action Network also had Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl, facing Illinois and projected to be a 12.5-point favorite against the Illini.
College Football News has another Tennessee-Iowa matchup, but this time in the ReliaQuest Bowl on December 31 in Tampa. Athlon had the Vols facing SMU in the Gator Bowl on January 2.
Tennessee could slip further down the bowl season pecking order if certain scenarios play out.
The Athletic in its bowl projections last week wrote that the Vols could slip all the way down to the Las Vegas Bowl on December 27, with the Citrus Bowl taking South Carolina, LSU to the Gator Bowl and Texas A&M to the ReliaQuest Bowl.
