The Tennessee Volunteers no longer control their season’s destiny. Losing to the Georgia Bulldogs this past weekend really hurt the team’s season goals.
While they are all but eliminated from SEC Championship contention, there are still several paths for the Vols to finish the season with a spot in the College Football Playoffs. With this season’s expansion to a 12-team playoff, a 2-loss SEC team is almost guaranteed to make it. Today I will highlight the 3 pathways to the College Football Playoffs for the Tennessee Volunteers, 2 of those being likely to happen, and 1 outlandish path.
#Vols WR Bru McCoy on tonight's playoff rankings: It's stating the obvious. We have to win out. We have to win convincingly. We have to maybe show some things that we haven't. But the way my mind is, I'm not even thinking about next week. I'm thinking about my next film session…
— GoVols247 (@GoVols247) November 19, 2024
Path 1
This is going to be the most simple path the Vols have to the playoffs. First and foremost, the Vols would need to win their last 2 games, against UTEP and Vanderbilt, and finish the season 10-2.
Unfortunately, there are 4 other SEC teams that could finish 10-2 as well, so the Vols schedule will come in handy here. The Vols suffered one of the worst losses by a playoff contender this year, losing at Arkansas in week 6. However, this loss is by no means worse than Ole Miss’ home loss to Kentucky. This alone should be enough to put the Vols over the Rebels.
In this scenario, Alabama and Tennessee would finish 10-2. Tennessee should have the edge over Alabama, because not only did they beat the Crimson Tide, but they also would have hypothetically beat Vanderbilt, Alabama’s other loss. While Alabama did beat Georgia, they would still have a loss to the Vols, and a loss to a common opponent.
The biggest barrier here, is of course Alabama’s name and brand. It will be very hard for the Selection Committee to not pamper Alabama.
Playoff Seeding
Georgia (SEC Champion), Texas (at-large), and Tennessee (at-large).
Path 2
This hypothetical path sees the Vols once again finishing 10-2. However, it does have Ole Miss being upset by Florida in week 13. This loss would effectively remove Ole Miss from any playoff conversation.
In this scenario, The Vols only have 2 teams to fight for an at-large spot against. Those being, Georgia and Alabama. With Texas hypothetically winning the SEC championship, that would leave Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee to fight for at-large spots.
Although being the SEC-runner ups in this scenario, I find it hard to believe a 3-loss SEC team would make the playoffs, leaving Georgia out. This would open a pathway for both Alabama and Tennessee to make the playoffs.
Playoff Seeding
Texas (SEC Champion), Tennessee (at-large), Alabama (at-large).
Path 3
In this hypothetical path, chaos encapsulates the SEC in the final 2 weeks of the season. This would have Alabama losing to Oklahoma and Auburn, Texas A&M losing to Auburn and Texas, and Texas losing to Kentucky.
This would essentially open a pathway to the SEC Championship for the Vols, by having a tie-breaker over Texas because they beat Kentucky. In this hypothetical SEC Championship, the Vols would get a rematch with the Georgia Bulldogs at a somewhat neutral site (Atlanta is basically just Athens West lol). If the Vols were able to get revenge on the Bulldogs, this would put them as a top seed in the playoffs.
Playoff Seeding
Tennessee (SEC Champion), Georgia (at-large), Texas (at-large).
NEW: College Football Playoff Bracketology via @Andy_Staples🏆
Do you agree? ⬇️https://t.co/fYmnmj3oop pic.twitter.com/NkEnffAuzw
— On3 (@On3sports) November 18, 2024
While all of these scenarios are entirely hypothetical, pathway 1 and 2 have a serious chance of happening. If the Vols win out, there are very few reasons as to why they should be left out of the playoffs. Even Greg McElroy, a former Alabama quarterback spoke in favor of the Vols:
“If Tennessee gets in, look, it’s no guarantee right now, but if Tennessee gets in, they could be a problem with what they have developing at quarterback, the commitment to the run game, and a defense that, while they had an off night the other night, has been really dominant at times this year.”
If a known Tennessee hater can be on record saying this about the Vols, then maybe the College Football Playoff Selection Committee should pay more attention to the team clad in orange and white.
The most important thing for Tennessee is winning out. Finish the season 10-2, do everything you’re supposed to do, and chances are they will get to play more football in January.
The Vols are back in action Saturday, November 23rd against the UTEP Miners. The game is in Knoxville, TN and will kick off at 1:00 PM EST. Follow me on X (Twitter) @JacksonVols24 for more great content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in college and professional football, click here!
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