Tennessee's standing in the College Football Playoff is becoming clearer.
With conference championship games ahead before the final College Football Playoff rankings determine the 12-team field and bracket on Sunday, the Vols were ranked No. 7 in the latest playoff rankings Tuesday night.
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Tennessee (10-2), which beat Vanderbilt in its final game of the regular season to clinch a playoff spot, moved up one spot but trailed No. 6 Ohio State (10-2) which dropped five places following its end-of-the-year loss to Michigan, setting up the potential clash between the Vols and Buckeyes in Columbus in the first round later this month.
After the rankings were released, playoff committee chair Warde Manuel spoke with the media via teleconference. Here is everything he said about Tennessee's standing and the committee's reasoning behind it.
On confirming his statement that idle teams this week will not move in rankings regardless of conference championship game results
"I'm saying -- in answer to the question, if you take, for example, Tennessee is ahead of SMU, Indiana is behind SMU; Tennessee will not drop below Indiana at any point. Neither team is playing. But SMU could move up, depending on how we evaluate the game. They could stay where they are or they could move down depending on the outcome of the game. But Tennessee and Indiana in this example would never flip. Indiana would never move ahead of Tennessee and Tennessee would never drop below Indiana because we've already evaluated them. There's not another data point because they're not playing in the championship games. So we don't have anything else to add to the evaluation of those teams, so we can't move them above or below each other."
On reasoning behind Ohio State being ranked ahead of Tennessee despite similar resumes
"Very similar resumes. Ohio State is 2-1 against top-10 teams. They have the win over Indiana and the win over Penn State. One of their two losses is to the No. 1 team in the country and then obviously the loss to Michigan last week. Tennessee also has had an impressive resume. They have two losses against Arkansas and against No. 5 Georgia. So they're very close. It was a constant conversation as to how we saw both teams, a lot of deliberation on them, and so it was just -- it was a lot of conversation in the outcome of the vote that had Ohio State ahead of Tennessee."
On if Georgia would move below Tennessee in potential SEC Championship Game loss to Texas
"I can't tell you exactly how the committee will look. It depends on the outcome of the game as we watch the game and the results of the game and the outcome as to whether or not teams will move above, below other teams that are ranked in the top 25. It's, again, asking me a question that I can't tell you the answer because we have not as a committee seen the outcome of the games. We've evaluated both teams. We've ranked Georgia higher than Tennessee. Georgia beat Tennessee. They are where they are based on the evaluation and analysis that the committee did. There are multiple things that we consider, multiple data points, strength of schedule, there's all kinds of data that we look at to evaluate. We look at the tape, look at film, look at games that are live or look at them in terms of the film, re-look at some of them to make sure we know what the strengths and the weaknesses and comparisons that these teams have.
So there are a lot of data points. I mentioned a few that you just mentioned. But there's a depth to it in a way, a process that all 13 members can communicate, unless they're recused, about a team and how they see it, and that's the beauty of the committee. It's not one person making the determination. It's not one stat or data point that determines how we rank the teams.
We will see how the game goes, and we will definitely rank them as we see the results of the game, again, with a high regard for those teams who have made the championships. We wish all of them, all 18 teams well in the championship, and we look forward to watching those games on Friday and Saturday.
College Football Playoff Top 12 as of Dec. 3
1. Oregon (12-0)
2. Texas (11-1)
3. Penn State (11-1)
4. Notre Dame (11-1)
5. Georgia (10-2)
6. Ohio State (10-2)
7. Tennessee (10-2)
8. SMU (11-1)
9. Indiana (11-1)
10. Boise State (11-1)
11. Alabama (9-3)
12. Miami (10-2)
Playoff format, Tennessee's path
With the new expansion, the top 12 teams ranked in the final rankings on Dec. 8 will make the playoff field.
The new format will include the four highest-ranked conference champions, which are seeded 1-4 with the fifth team seeded where it finished in the rankings or moved to No. 12 if it finishes outside if the top 12. The next seven highest ranked teams in the final playoff rankings will also make the field as at-large bids.
The top four teams are guaranteed a first round bye.
The 5-8 seeds will host on campus games on Dec. 20-21 with the Fiesta Bowl, Rose Bowl, Peach Bowl and Sugar Bowl hosting the four quarterfinal games on Dec.31-Jan.1. The Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl will be semifinal games on Jan. 9-10.
The national championship game is slated for Monday, Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Because Boise State would jump into the top 4 if it wins the Mountain West Conference Championship Game over UNLV this week, the latest bracket had Tennessee as the 9-seed playing at 8-Ohio State at Ohio Stadium in Columbus in the first round of the playoff.
The winner would face No. 1 Oregon (11-0) in the quarterfinals in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on New Year's Day.
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