Tennessee would be a touchdown underdog at Ohio State in first round of College Football Playoffs
Tennessee Football would be a 7.5-point underdog for a College Football Playoff game on the road at Ohio State in the first round, according to SportsBetting.ag. The Vols and Buckeyes were projected to meet in the first round when the playoff bracket was updated on Tuesday night.
Tennessee (10-2) was ranked No. 7 in the College Football Playoff Top 25 in Tuesday night’s update from the selection committee. The Vols were seeded ninth in the corresponding update for the 12-team playoff bracket.
Ohio State (10-2) was ranked No. 6, falling four spots after the 13-10 home loss to Michigan, and was seeded eighth, getting the fourth and final host spot in the first round.
Teams seeded Nos. 5-8 host games in the first round while teams seeded Nos. 9-12 go on the road. The top four seeds, awarded to the four highest-ranked conference champions, receive a bye into the quarterfinal rounds.
College Football Playoff bracket to be revealed Sunday on ESPN
The official College Football Playoff bracket will be released on Sunday at Noon Eastern Time on ESPN.
SportsBetting.ag also set lines for the three other first-round matchups on Tuesday night.
No. 5 Penn State would be a 13-point home favorite against No. 12 Arizona State and No. 6 Notre Dame would be a 3-point favorite against No. 11 Alabama. No. 7 Georgia would be a 12-point favorite at home against No. 10 Indiana.
Tennessee went 7-5 against the spread during the regular season. The Vols 3-5 against the spread over the final eight games, winning outright as a 3.5-point underdog against Alabama and covering a 41-point line against UTEP and a 10-point spread at Vanderbilt
The season started with four straight covers, against Chattanooga (-39.5), North Carolina State (-8.5), Kent State (-49) and Oklahoma (-5.5). Tennessee failed to cover against Arkansas (-14), Florida (-14), Kentucky (-17.5), Mississippi State (-9) and Georgia (+9).
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Tennessee punched ticket to College Football Playoff with win at Vanderbilt
Ohio State went 6-6 against the spread, ending the regular season with the 13-10 home loss to Michigan as a 19.5-point favorite.
The Buckeyes covered against Western Michigan (-37.5), Michigan State (-23.5), Iowa (-17), Penn State (-3), Purdue (-37.5) and Indiana (-10.5). They failed to cover against Akron (-48.5), Marshall (-40), Oregon (-3.5), Nebraska (-25) and Northwestern (-28), before the loss to Michigan.
Tennessee unofficially punched its ticket to the College Football Playoff with its 36-23 win at Vanderbilt on Saturday. Ohio State went from a projected bye into the quarterfinals to in danger of having to go on the road in the first round after the loss to Michigan.
The selection committee opted to keep the Buckeyes ranked and seeded ahead of the Vols, citing their wins this season at Penn State and at home against Indiana.
“If you’re not of the mindset going into this thing, anyone, anywhere, anytime,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said on Wednesday, “then you’re just there to have a cup of coffee anyway.”
