Playoff committee chair explains why Vols stayed put in latest rankings

The Vols (8-1, 5-1 SEC), who won their fourth-straight game against Mississippi State, 33-14 last Saturday, stayed put at No. 7 in the most recent edition of the playoff rankings, seemingly raising the stakes for their top 15 bout with No. 12 Georgia (7-2, 5-2) at Sanford Stadium on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Some of the most notable changes in the top 25 included one-loss BYU and unbeaten Indiana jumping Tennessee to No. 6 and No. 5, respectively.

Indiana held off now 5-5 Michigan, 20-15 at home while BYU needed a penalty to extend a game-winning drive against 4-5 Utah on the road.

In a teleconference with reporters following the release of the rankings, playoff committee chair Warde Manuel explained the decision to not move the Vols up.

"It really came down to the play last week of both Indiana and BYU, both winning big games on their schedule," Manuel said. "Tennessee, the offense has struggled some the second half of the season, not being consistent early in the year, and we just felt as a committee that at this time Indiana has been playing very well, a close win against Michigan, but other than that, they've dominated everyone they've played. BYU, obviously undefeated, two wins against top-25 opponents, at SMU and against Kansas State.

In looking at it, as we assessed all the teams, we just felt that Indiana and BYU earned the five and the six slot, and Tennessee stayed where they are."

As of now, the Vols are in must-win mode this week, while the Bulldogs are one-loss away from being out of the playoff picture completely with No. 13 Boise State currently making the field if it holds on to the top spot in the Mountain West Conference and sneaks in as a conference champion.

Tennessee's resume features one road loss at Arkansas more than a month ago and a ranked win over No. 10 Alabama in Knoxville just three weeks ago.

Comparatively, Indiana, which has burst onto the scene in 2024, have a schedule that ranks 100th in strength of schedule, according to ESPN's Football Power Index. BYU ranks 54th based on the same metric.

The Vols have the 35th ranked strength of schedule and ninth-ranked strength of record.

The clearest path for Tennessee to reach the playoff is to win out, which is easier said than done with a Georgia team essentially playing for its season still left on the schedule and Vanderbilt, which has already beaten Alabama and took No. 3 Texas to the brink this season.

The Vols have a thin margin for error going forward, even with their quarterback situation uncertain.

Starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava was held out of the second half of Tennessee's game against Mississippi State and reports Tuesday said that he was in concussion protocol and that his status vs. Georgia was "undetermined"

Warde added that Iamaleava's situation did not factor into the rankings.

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @ByNoahTaylor, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media.