Playoff Projections: Tennessee moves to CFP bubble after loss at Arkansas
Tennessee is a College Football Playoff team until the Vols get their offense figured out, according to On3’s Ari Wasserman. He moved Tennessee to the playoff bubble after falling flat in the 19-14 loss to Arkansas Saturday night in Fayetteville.
“Two weeks ago,” Wasserman wrote, “it felt like Tennessee was a legitimate national title contender. But after going on the road and losing at on Saturday, there are some questions about whether this offense is potent enough to navigate the rest of its SEC schedule without losing one or two more games.”
Wasserman’s current top four seeds are No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Clemson and No. 4 BYU. The first-round matchups were No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 12 UNLV, No. 8 Alabama vs. No. 9 Iowa State, No. 7 Penn State vs. No. 10 Miami and No. 11 Indiana vs. No. 6 Oregon.
The first four out were Tennessee, Notre Dame, Texas A&M and Ole Miss while the next four out were Texas Tech, Kansas State, SMU and LSU.
Up Next: No. 8 Tennessee vs. Florida
No. 8 Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 SEC) will look to move on from the upset while hosting Florida (3-2, 1-1) on Saturday night (7 Eastern Time, ESPN) at Neyland Stadium.
It’s the first game in a four-game homestand for the Vols, who host No. 7 Alabama next Saturday, Kentucky on November 2 and Mississippi State on November 9.
As of now, opinions are split on if Tennessee will be a playoff team or not.
ESPN’s two updated projections had two different outlooks the Vols. Mark Schlabach still has Tennessee as a playoff team, as the No. 10 seed in the 12-team field, while Kyle Bonagura moved the Vols out of his bracket.
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Schlabach has Tennessee as the No. 10 seed going to No. 7 Penn State in the first round, with Penn State advancing to face No. 2 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl in the quarterfinal round. Bonagura, meanwhile, has the Vols facing Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa on December 31.
Athlon has Vols in quarterfinal Rose Bowl game vs. Ohio State
Penn State is the most popular possible first-round opponents in this week’s projections.
Athlon Sports had Tennessee as a No. 9 seed playing at No. 8 Penn State and advancing to the Rose Bowl in the quarterfinal round to face No. 2 Ohio State. USA Today has the Vols as a No. 10 seed at No. 7 Penn State.
The Athletic moved Tennessee to the playoff bubble alongside Indiana, Texas A&M, Kansas State and Iowa State. The Athletic has a projected record of 9-3 for Tennessee with a 40% chance to make the playoff.
CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm has the Vols headed to the Gator Bowl to face Louisville.
