Where Tennessee stands in ESPN's College Football Playoff bubble watch
Tennessee and LSU are the final two SEC teams currently in the College Football Playoff field according to updated projections from ESPN. Heather Dinich on Tuesday had the Vols as a No. 9 seed, going to Baton Rouge to face No. 8 LSU.
Georgia and Texas were the other two SEC teams in the 12-team bracket, while Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Alabama were in the “next four out” category.
Oregon was the No. 1 seed, ahead of No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Miami and No. 4 BYU.
Vols moved back into College Football Playoff bracket after win over Alabama
Texas was the No. 5 seed after its 30-15 home loss against Georgia Saturday night, hosting No. 12-seed Boise State in this week’s projection. Ohio State was the No. 6, at home against No. 11 Indiana in the first round and Penn State was No. 7, hosting No. 10 Clemson.
Tennessee was on the outside looking in last week, but was moved into ESPN’s bracket following the 24-17 win over Alabama Saturday at Neyland Stadium. The loss bumped the Crimson Tide out of the playoff.
Indiana and Boise State are the last two teams in the field, according to Dinich, with Notre Dame, Iowa State, Kansas State and Illinois making up the “first four out.”
“After the four highest-ranked conference champions are seeded,” Dinich wrote, “the committee then works its way down its ranking and seeds the rest of the teams in the order they were ranked.
“Tennessee was one of the ‘first four out’ last week but earned a promotion after its win against Alabama (which was knocked out of the bracket).”
Up Next: No. 7 Tennessee vs. Kentucky, Saturday, November 2
Tennessee (6-1, 3-1 SEC) is off this week and hosts Kentucky (3-4, 1-4) on November 2. The Vols also have home dates with Mississippi State (November 9) and UTEP (November 23) and road games at Georgia (November 16) and Vanderbilt (November 30).
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“The Vols don’t play LSU during the regular season,” Dinich wrote. “This week, they would be the last two teams from the SEC in the bracket, giving the league four total along with Georgia and Texas.”
Tennessee has a 67% chance to make the College Football Playoff, according to ESPN’s Playoff Predictor. The Vols had a 44.8% chance before the win over Alabama.
The 67% chance is the seventh highest odds according to the ESPN numbers. Georgia and Oregon both had an 87% chance, after Georgia won at Texas Saturday night and Oregon beat Ohio State at home last week.
Miami has an 86% chance, Ohio State has a 79% chance, Texas has a 78% chance and Penn State has a 73% chance.
The Vols are now ranked No. 6 in ESPN’s Football Power Index with a projected win-loss record of 10.2-2.1. They have a 15.0% chance to win out, a 17.8% chance to win the SEC, a 12.5% chance to make it to the national championship game and a 6.3% chance to win the national title.
