ESPN's final College Football Playoff prediction for Tennessee has Vols on road in first round
ESPN’s final prediction for Tennessee in the College Football Playoff is for the Vols to be the No. 9 seed, going to No. 8 Ohio State in the first round. ESPN’s Heather Dinich updated her projections Saturday night after the conclusion of conference championship games.
“Tennessee’s résumé is highlighted by its win against Alabama,” Dinich wrote, “but it doesn’t have two statement wins that compare with Ohio State’s. Tennessee’s road loss to unranked Arkansas (6-6) is another factor that will keep the Vols from hosting a home game.”
ESPN’s projections have correctly picked Tennessee’s landing spot the last two weeks, with the Vols as the bracket’s No. 9 seed, going on the road to face the No. 8 in the first round. Two weeks ago it was at No. 8 Georgia while last week it was at No. 8 Ohio State.
‘Their decision has been made, the committee will stick with (Ohio State over Tennessee)’
“The committee dropped Ohio State four spots following its loss to Michigan,” Dinich wrote, “but kept the Buckeyes ahead of the Vols in large part because of two wins against top-10 teams, Penn State and Indiana. Manuel has repeatedly pointed out the Buckeyes’ one-point loss to No. 1-ranked Oregon in Autzen Stadium.
“Manuel said there was ‘constant conversation’ and ‘a lot of deliberation’ last week between Ohio State and Tennessee, but now that their decision has been made, the committee will stick with it. Ohio State is a lock for the playoff and projected to remain the No. 8 seed and final team awarded a first-round home game.”
ESPN has No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Boise State and No. 4 Arizona State receiving byes into the quarterfinal round.
The other first-round matchup projections were No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Penn State, No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Texas and No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame.
The Tennessee-Ohio State winner would face No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl. The SMU-Texas winner would face No. 3 Boise State, Indiana-Notre Dame would matchup with No. 2 Georgia and the Clemson-Penn State winner would face Arizona State.
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Tennessee a popular pick for No. 9 seed in College Football Playoff
On3, USA Today and Bleacher Report all have Tennessee as the No. 9 seed going to No. 8 Penn State. CBS Sports has the Vols as the No. 9 seed going to No. 8 Ohio State. The Athletic had the same Tennessee-Ohio State prediction, with No. 1 Oregon awaiting the winner in the Rose Bowl.
Tennessee (10-2) unofficially clinched a spot in the new 12-team College Football Playoff with a 36-23 win at Vanderbilt last week.
On Tuesday night the College Football Playoff selection committee ranked Tennessee No. 7, leaving the Vols as the No. 9 seed in the bracket and going on the road at No. 8 Ohio State in the final bracket projection.
Georgia clinched a bye into the quarterfinals on Saturday with the 22-19 overtime win over Texas Saturday in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. No. 1 Oregon beat No. 3 Penn State 45-37 for the Big Ten Championship, Clemson beat SMU 34-31 in the ACC title game and Arizona State beat Iowa State to win the Big 12. Boise State beat UNLV Friday night in the Mountain West title game.
The four highest-ranked conference champions receive byes in the quarterfinal bowl games, which this season are the Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Peach Bowl. Teams seeded Nos. 5-8 host playoff games in the first round while teams seeded Nos. 9-12 go on the road.
The Selection Committee last week had Oregon at No. 1, Georgia at No. 5, Arizona State at No. 15 and Clemson at No. 17.
