For the first time since the College Football Playoff rankings were released earlier this month, Tennessee is no longer in a position to jump into the final four by the end of the season.

Following a 63-38 loss at South Carolina last Saturday, the Vols dropped five spots from No. 5 to No. 10 in Tuesday's Top 25 release.

Tennessee (9-2, 5-2 SEC) joins Mississippi State as the only teams to open at No. 1 in the initial rankings and not reach the playoffs since the Playoff's inception in 2014.

The top four of Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU remained the same as last week despite all four teams struggling in their last outings.

The Vols are still in the running for a New Year's Six bowl – either the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium in Dallas on Jan. 2 or the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on Dec. 30 – depending on how the rest of the Top 10 performs over the next two weeks.

Tennessee wraps up its regular season against Vanderbilt (5-6, 2-5 SEC) at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.

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