Tennessee is in the College Football Playoff.
Where the Vols will be seeded and where they’ll play won’t be determined until conference championship are settled this weekend, but the latest playoff rankings could be an early indication.
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Coming off of a 36-23 win over Vanderbilt in its regular season finale last week, Tennessee (10-2) climbed one spot to No. 7 in the rankings on Tuesday night behind two-loss and No. 6 Ohio State (10-2) which lost to Michigan to end the regular season and missed out on the Big Ten Championship Game.
The Vols were ahead of No. 12 Miami, No. 11 Alabama, No. 10 Boise State, No. 9 Indiana and No. 8 SMU.
There is still room for Tennessee to move up, depending on how conference championship games shake out on Saturday.
A number of one and two-loss teams will play in their respective conference title games, including No. 5 Georgia, which beat the Vols 31-17 last month in Athens. The Bulldogs play Texas in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.
College Football Playoff Top 12
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)
What playoff bracket, Vols’ path would look like
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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