Tennessee’s third loss of the same came against Oklahoma on Saturday night, which essentially eliminated the Volunteers from playoff contention. We’ll find out more on how the selection committee views Josh Heupel’s squad when the inaugural College Football Playoff rankings come out on Tuesday night, but it doesn’t seem likely that the Vols will garner much attention.
Postseason play is still on the way for Tennessee, though. With six wins already on the table, Tennessee will almost assuredly end the season between seven and nine wins. Considering Tennessee’s 99% chance to beat New Mexico State in Week 12, it’ll come down to a road game at Florida and a home game against Vanderbilt to determine where Tennessee will be playing its postseason ball.
ESPN’s Football Power Index has Tennessee with a lowly 1.8% chance to make the playoffs, so all of the projections listed today are outside of it.
The most intriguing projection from this week’s slate is from On3 Sports’ Brett McMurphy, who has Tennessee playing a former National Championship contender right after Christmas. McMurphy’s projection has Tennessee slated to play Miami in the Gator Bowl on Dec. 27 from Jacksonville, FL.
The Hurricanes went through much of the season as one of the top teams in the nation, but the Carson Beck-led squad has dropped two of its last three games (vs Louisville, at SMU) to fall down to No. 18 in the country. The losses also might put the ‘Canes out of the running for the playoffs. If that happens, McMurphy believes that they could wind up playing the Vols in a post-Christmas showdown.
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Another intriguing projection has Tennessee taking on the 2023 National Champion. CBS Sports’ staff predictions has Tennessee playing Michigan in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Eve from Orlando, FL. The Wolverines are 7-2 on the season with losses to Oklahoma and Southern Cal, but still have to play Ohio State in the final week of the season. That game is in Ann Arbor, but it’ll be tough to knock off the reigning champs regardless.
Tennessee previously clobbered Iowa in the Citrus Bowl to close down the 2023 football season.
It’s not surprising to see many projections lean toward a Florida-based bowl for the Vols, considering how well attended both the Orange Bowl and Citrus Bowl have been in recent years. ESPN’s Mark Schlabach has Tennessee projected to the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, FL, taking on Iowa. The Hawkeyes are 6-2 on the season but still have remaining games against No. 6 Oregon, No. 20 Southern Cal, Michigan State, and Nebraska.
Two non-Florida bowl projections round out this week’s list. ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura has Tennessee slated to take on SMU in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl from Charlotte, NC, while USA Today’s Erick Smith has Tennessee projected to take on Illinois in the Music City Bowl from Nashville, TN.
Tennessee has its second and final open date this Saturday, but will return to action on Nov. 15 in a Salute to Service game against New Mexico State in Neyland Stadium. The Vols will then close out the season with a road game at Florida and a home game against Vanderbilt.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee football coverage.
