The Tennessee Volunteers made a statement last Saturday night, thrashing the Florida Gators in the Swamp 31-11 for the first win in Gainesville in 22 years.
Playoff committee: yawn.
The Vols moved up from
20 to 19 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released on Tuesday night.
Tennessee was the third three-loss team in the rankings last week, and they remain that way this week behind Texas and USC. The Trojans lost convincingly 42-27 at Oregon, but apparently this permutation of the selection committee, which absolutely loves them a good loss this year, liked this one and only dropped them two spots.
I’m not saying Tennessee beat the 2008 Florida Gators, but Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is the site where the Gators thoroughly controlled the Longhorns in a 29-21 loss that didn’t even feel that close. And while Florida laid a massive egg against Kentucky, they also took Georgia and Ole Miss to the final seconds this month. Just sayin’.
But it’s all there for Tennessee to convince more voters and move up next week – even with making the field not a possibility anymore. Beat Vanderbilt to end their playoff hopes, and Tennessee will find themselves moving on up more substantially in the final rankings.
