Despite losing to Georgia, Tennessee is still very much in the College Football Playoff hunt.
The Vols fell from No. 1 to No. 5 when the rankings were announced during the selection show on Tuesday. The Vols were first in the rankings before a 27-13 loss to Georgia (9-0) on Saturday.
Being No. 5 should certainly give Tennessee (8-1) belief that they will be in the top four when the final selections are made as long as it can win its last three remaining games. The Vols are expected to be favorites against Missouri on Saturday followed by South Carolina and Vanderbilt in the final two weeks.
Ohio State and Michigan still have to play each other and they are ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Georgia nabbed the top spot after debuting at No. 3 last week. Texas Christian (9-0) was ranked No. 4.
Tennessee is the highest rated one-loss team in the field, ahead of Oregon (8-1) at No. 6 and a host of other schools. LSU, which Tennessee beat, was ranked as the No. 7 team in the nation despite having two losses at 7-2. Southern California (8-1) was ranked eighth. Alabama (7-2), who Tennessee also beat, was ranked No. 9 and Clemson (8-1) was ranked 10th.
