The Tennessee Volunteers began the season with wins over Syracuse and ETSU before falling to Georgia in the SEC opener this past Saturday in Knoxville. But while the Vols did suffer a loss, it appears that Tennessee established itself as a player in the SEC this year and could find itself back in the playoff picture with a few more statement wins throughout the season.
The AP voters and coaches didn’t see much wrong with the loss, either. Tennessee entered the Georgia game at No. 15 in the AP Rankings and the Coaches Poll and didn’t move from either spot after the loss. It’ll now be up to Tennessee to avenge that early defeat with a few big wins this season.
Through the first handful of weeks, we’ve taken a look at some of the updated bowl projections for Josh Heupel’s Volunteers. It’s still plenty early to be forecasting where Tennessee will be playing in December, but it does give an interesting perspective on where some media outlets see this team moving forward.
Heather Dinich, for instance, believes that Tennessee would be in the playoffs if it were today. The ESPN analyst did a College Football Playoffs projection last Sunday with Tennessee landing as the 10-seed in the playoffs.
“The committee will not penalize the Vols for losing an overtime game at home to one of the SEC’s best teams, but it will wonder about allowing 44 points, 502 yards, and having 10 penalties and two turnovers,” Dinich wrote. “The committee will still respect the season-opening win against Syracuse, which has won each of its past two games against weaker opponents.”
Dinich also says that Tennessee has a “realistic path to the SEC championship” game without LSU or Texas on the schedule, but needs to avoid going 0-2 against Alabama and Oklahoma to stay alive in the conversation. That also feels like she is assuming that Tennessee handles business at Florida in the penultimate week of the regular season.
Dinich’s projection has Tennessee going on the road to take on 7-seed Florida State in the first round of the playoffs, with a potential quarterfinal game against 2-seed Miami in the next round.
That’s projecting what the College Football Playoff committee might do at this week in the season, though. Other media outlets have Tennessee on the outside of the playoff picture looking in as things stand heading into Week 4.
More From RTI: Pair Of Former Tennessee Coordinators Candidates For Virginia Tech Head Coach Opening
While looking at the different projections around the media, one interesting note sticks out. Three different analysts have Tennessee matched up with Nebraska in the ReliaQuest Bowl on New Year’s Eve.
On3’s Brett McMurphy, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, and ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura all have the Volunteers and Cornhuskers set to square off in Raymond James Stadium on Wednesday, December 31. Tennessee and Nebraska have met three times in program history, with all three meetings taking place during the postseason. Nebraska won the 1997 Orange Bowl and the 1999 Fiesta Bowl, but Tennessee won the 2016 Music City Bowl.
Athlon Sports’ Steven Lassan also has Tennessee playing in the state of Florida on New Year’s Eve, but not in the ReliaQuest. Lassan has Tennessee taking on Michigan in the Citrus Bowl from Orlando, FL, in a Big Ten vs SEC matchup.
Tennessee previously blanked Iowa in the 2023 Citrus Bowl by a score of 35-0. Last year’s bowl game saw Illinois defeat South Carolina 21-17.
The last projection heading into the Week 4 slate comes from Sports Illustrated’s Bryan Fischer. He’s got Tennessee traveling to the Lone Star State for a matchup with Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 27.
The Vols and the Red Raiders have only matched up twice in program history, with Texas Tech winning in 1973 and Tennessee winning in 1997. Last year’s Texas Bowl saw LSU beat Baylor in a shootout, 44-31.
No. 15 Tennessee will host UAB in a non-conference matchup this Saturday afternoon in Neyland Stadium. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for live coverage of the game.
