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Tennessee football drops in updated College Football Playoff Top 25

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•11/08/22•

GrantRamey

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No. 11 Tennessee will host No. 20 Florida this weekend in a renewal of an annual rivalry that has become lopsided the last decade and a half. (Icon Sportswire / Getty Images)

Tennessee football’s 27-13 loss at Georgia on Saturday moved the Vols down four spots in the College Football Playoff Top 25, coming in at No. 5 in the updated CFP Top 25 on Tuesday night.

Georgia is the new No. 1 team in the College Football Playoff rankings. Ohio State is No. 2 and Michigan is No. 3. TCU moved up from No. 7 to No. 4 after a home win over Texas Tech.

Tennessee (8-1, 4-1 SEC) hosts Missouri (4-5, 2-4) on Saturday in a Noon Eastern Time kickoff (TV: CBS) on Senior Day at Neyland Stadium. The Vols play at South Carolina on November 19 and at Vanderbilt on November 26, closing the regular-season schedule with back-to-back road games.

Missouri lost 21-17 at home against Kentucky. The Tigers entered Saturday having won back-to-back SEC games, beating Vanderbilt at home then winning at South Carolina, after dropping three straight games to start conference play.

Tennessee opened as a 20-point favorite over Missouri on Sunday.

Josh Heupel: ‘Up to this point, we’ve done a lot of things right’

Josh Heupel was asked during hiss weekly press conference on Monday about the importance of not only winning out, but winning “with style points” as the Vols look to stay alive in the playoff conversation.

“There’s a whole month of football (left),” Heupel said. “There’s a lot of ball left to be played by everybody in the country. Up until this point, we’ve done a lot of things right. Obviously in that ball game a week ago (against Kentucky). Credit to Georgia. We didn’t come out on the right side of the scoreboard.

“There’s nothing that we can control other than how we are, how we approach it, how we go play and compete. At the end of the day, it’s about trying to find a way to be the best team on the field during 60 minutes. That’s all we’re concerned about.”

The Vols dropped to No. 5 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll. They were tied for No. 2 in the AP poll last week and No. 3 in the Coaches Poll, before the loss at Georgia.

Tennessee still in College Football Playoff hunt

ESPN’s Football Power Index has Tennessee at No. 5 following the loss at Georgia, the No. 1 team in the ranking. Ohio State is No. 2, Alabama is No. 3 despite its overtime loss at LSU Saturday night, its second of the season. Michigan is No. 4 while Texas is No. 6 behind Tennessee. Undefeated TCU is No. 14 in the ranking.

The FPI this week gave the Vols a 76.0-percent chance to win their remaining three regular-season game and a 62.6-percent chance to make the four-team College Football Playoff field, the third highest percentage behind only Georgia (91.2) and Ohio State (86.6). 

The metric gives Tennessee a 27.3-percent chance to reach the national championship game and an 11.2-percent chance to win the title. Only Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan, respectively, have a better chance according to the FPI.

The Vols were the No. 1 team in the College Football Playoff Top 25 on Tuesday, when the selection committee released their first rankings of the season. Ohio State was No. 2 and Georgia was No. 3.

Clemson, which was No. 4 in the CFP Top 25, lost at Notre Dame Saturday night. Alabama’s overtime loss at LSU was its second of the season. The Crimson Tide were No. 6 in the CFP rankings on Tuesday, while LSU was No. 10.

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