11/15/2022 football Edit

Vols remain at No. 5 in latest College Football Playoff rankings

Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker celebrates after a first half touchdown against Missouri on Nov. 12, 2022. (Knoxville News-Sentinel)

Noah Taylor • VolReport

Managing Editor

Noah is a graduate of the UT College of Journalism & Electronic Media and has covered Tennessee football since 2019. He joined Rivals in 2022.

For the top five teams in the College Football Playoff Top 25, last Saturday was largely uneventful.

The top four teams — Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU — all won to remain unbeaten while Tennessee looked impressive in its 66-24 thumping of Missouri at Neyland Stadium.

The latest rankings from the selection committee reflected as much with all five teams staying in their respective spots, including the Vols at No. 5 on Tuesday night.

Tennessee (9-1, 5-1 SEC) is still in position to move up should the Vols win their next two games and one of the current top four teams lose. Ohio State and Michigan face each other in what will likely be a de facto elimination game on Nov. 26 in Columbus, and TCU still has games against Iowa State, Baylor and the Big 12 Championship Game remaining.

As for the teams that were a possible threat to jumping Tennessee into the top four by selection Sunday on Dec. 4, then-No. 6 Oregon's 37-34 loss to Washington this past weekend caused a shakeup in the rest of the top 10.

LSU (8-2, 6-1) clinched the SEC Western Division with its win over Arkansas and Ole Miss' loss to Alabama. The Tigers, who will play No. 1 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta on Dec. 3, jumped one spot to No. 6.

LSU lost to Tennessee, 40-13, on Oct. 8 at Tiger Stadium.

Ole Miss, which only had one loss and was ranked 11th before its key matchup with Alabama, was prevented from making a significant jump in the rankings with the loss to the Crimson Tide.

Another team that can work itself into the conversation of a top four finish is Southern California. The Trojans moved from No. 8 to No. 7 and are 9-1 overall — their lone loss coming against No. 10 Utah in October. They have a chance to add to their resume with games against No. 16 UCLA and No. 18 Notre Dame to finish the regular season, as well as a possible Pac-12 Championship Game berth.

Tennessee will have another shot to impress the committee when it plays South Carolina (6-4, 3-4 SEC) at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday at 7 p.m. (ESPN).

The Vols are currently 22-point favorites.

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