3 paths for Tennessee to still make the College Football Playoff
By John Buhler
How Tennessee can make College Football Playoff as one-loss SEC Champion
This pathway is considerably more unlikely, given what Georgia has to do to allow Tennessee to get to Atlanta. Since the Dawgs possess the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Vols, Tennessee would need for Georgia to drop its final two SEC games to finish 6-2 in the conference. Georgia will play at Mississippi State on Saturday and then at Kentucky next week to close out SEC play.
Tennessee would also need to win its final three SEC games vs. Missouri, at South Carolina and at Vanderbilt to get to 7-1. In that scenario, Tennessee would win the SEC East race outright, due to an Georgia unexpected collapse down the stretch. If the Vols get to Atlanta, they will make the College Football Playoff should they beat whoever comes out of the SEC West this college season.
Right now, the favorite to do so would be LSU, as the Tigers have the head-to-head tiebreaker over both Alabama and Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide and Rebels square off in Oxford this weekend. A road loss completely eliminates Alabama from the playoff equation, while a second SEC loss for Ole Miss pretty much guarantees that it will be LSU getting to Atlanta out of the western division.
The cool part in this scenario is the Vols will get in as a top-three seed with a neutral-site win over whoever they play in Atlanta. The problem with that is Georgia is way better than both Mississippi State and Kentucky. Although the Bulldogs and Wildcats could stun the Dawgs, Kirby Smart’s team knows what is at stake here. Georgia is too well-coached to screw this up down the stretch.
It is a total pipe dream for Tennessee, but we have seen crazier things happen in college football.