Kickoff time, TV info announced for Tennessee in first round of the College Football Playoff
Tennessee’s game at Ohio State in the first round of the College Football Playoff will be played on Saturday, December 21. Kickoff time has been set for 8 p.m. Eastern Time and the game will be televised by ABC and ESPN. The winner will advance to face No. 1 Oregon in Rose Bowl on January 1, a 5 p.m. Eastern Time start on ABC and ESPN.
The first round will start on Friday, December 20 with No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame in an 8 p.m. ET start on ABC and ESPN. The triple header on Saturday will begin with No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State in a Noon ET game and will be followed by No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas in a 4 p.m. start on TNT and streaming on HBO Max.
The four-highest ranked conference championships received byes into the quarterfinals. No. 1 Oregon followed by No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Boise State and No. 4 Arizona State. Georgia awaits the Indiana-Notre Dame winner in the Sugar Bowl, Boise State will face the SMU-Penn State winner in the Fiesta Bowl and Arizona State will be in the Peach Bowl waiting on the Clemson-Texas winner.
Tennessee at Ohio State: How to watch the College Football Playoff
Start Time: Saturday, December 21, 8 p.m. Eastern Time
TV: ABC/ESPN
Streaming: ESPN App
Radio: WNML-FM 99.1 in Knoxville (Bob Kesling, Pat Ryan, Brent Hubbs, Jayson Swain). The Vol Network radio broadcast can be heard on local affiliates across the state of Tennessee.
The College Football Playoff Schedule
The first game in the expanded playoff era will be on Friday, December 20, followed by three games in a row on Saturday, December 21. The quarterfinals will be played in the Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl and Sugar Bowl on December 31 and January 1.
The semifinals will be played on January 9 and January 10 in the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl.
The 2025 National Championship Game will be played on Monday, January 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
How Tennessee made it to the College Football Playoff
Tennessee unofficially clinched its spot in the College Football Playoff with last week’s 36-23 win at Vanderbilt, capping a 10-2 regular season.
The Vols started the season 4-0 with wins over Chattanooga, NC State, Kent State and at Oklahoma before getting upset 19-14 on the road at Arkansas.
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Tennessee bounced back with four straight home wins, beating Florida, Alabama, Kentucky and Mississippi State at Neyland Stadium before a 31-17 loss at Georgia.
The regular-season schedule ended with a 56-0 home win over UTEP on Senior Day, then the win at Vanderbilt.
The Vols were the first team out of the 12-team bracket on November 19, following the loss at Georgia, but were back in a week later after Indiana, Ole Miss and Alabama all lost on November 23.
Tennessee was ranked as high as No. 7 in the College Football Playoff Top 25, back on November 5 in the first rankings of the season, and again last week.
The Vols were seeded ninth in the projected bracket on Tuesday, the final update before the official bracket was set on Sunday.
The four highest-ranked conference champions receive byes into the quarterfinal round. Teams seeded Nos. 5-8 host playoff games on campus in the first round while teams seeded Nos. 9-12 go on the road.
