If the College Football Playoff selection committee is consistent the rest of the year, Tennessee Football should be thrilled. The Vols’ position in the inaugural CFP rankings for 2024 shows the process is being incredibly fair to them, maybe even more fair than it should be…at least for the moment.
UT came in at No. 7 in the first ever rankings for the 12-team CFB Playoff. That would put them as the No. 8 seed, as the top four conference champions are the top four seeds, and only teams from the SEC, ACC and Big Ten are ahead of them. The BYU Cougars, who are undefeated and the highest-ranked team outside of those three leagues, came in at No. 9.
Would that be the scenario today, Tennessee Football would host the Indiana Hoosiers in the first round of the CFP. Indiana, who is also undefeated, came in at No. 9. The winner of that game would face the Oregon Ducks, who entered the inaugural rankings at No. 1, in the quarterfinals.
Taking all this into account, this is about the best the Vols could hope for given their schedule strength. They are behind the Ohio State Buckeyes at No. 2, Georgia Bulldogs at No. 3, Miami Hurricanes at No. 4, Texas Longhorns at No. 5 and Penn State Nittany Lions at No. 6.
After them, Indiana and BYU, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are No. 10, and the Alabama Crimson Tide came in at No. 11 with the Boise State Broncos, who would be the Group of Five team in the event, at No. 12. One-loss Power Five teams left out are the SMU Mustangs, Pittsburgh Panthers and Iowa State Cyclones.
All of this clearly states the committee will prefer SEC teams and also is higher on Tennessee Football despite questions about the program’s strength of schedule. Based on this outlook, a 10-2 finish seems like a reasonable goal to get them in, and it could very well net them a home game too. Simply put, they should love these rankings.
