On Saturday, Tennessee football took care of business and defeated Arkansas 34-31 inside Neyland Stadium. Despite coming out with an SEC win, ESPN’s FPI rankings dropped the Vols. UT is now at No. 13 in the analytics-based ranking, a two-spot fall from a week ago.
Tennessee was jumped by both Texas Tech and Texas A&M in the rankings. The Vols are just behind Ole Miss, as well, despite the Rebels dropping five spots after skating past Washington State this past weekend.
Tennessee’s position at No. 13 is good for the sixth-best mark in the SEC. The Vols come in behind No. 3 Alabama (who UT plays this upcoming weekend), No. 6 Georgia, No. 7 Texas, No. 11 Texas A&M and No. 12 Ole Miss. The rankings are led by Ohio State in first, followed by Indiana at No. 2, the Tide at No. 3, a two-loss Notre Dame at No. 4 and Oregon at No. 5.
While the Vols fell in the rankings after beating Arkansas, the Razorbacks actually moved up. Arkansas is now at No. 36, a five-spot increase from last week.
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The FPI rankings also look at projections for how the rest of the season will unfold. Currently, it projects Tennessee to finish at 8.9-3.1 on the year. The odds for the Vols to win out and go 11-1 are at 2.5%.
To win just one more game and reach bowl eligibility, FPI has UT at a 100% chance. However, to win the SEC, it gives the Vols just a 2.3% mark.
FPI’s projections have Tennessee with a 28.1% chance to make the playoffs. That is the seventh-best in the conference. To make the national title game, the Vols are at 2.8%. To win the championship, it’s at 1.1%, the 14th-best chance in the country.
Next, Tennessee heads to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET and will air on ABC.
