ESPN moves Tennessee up in College Football Playoff projections after Week 2
ESPN’s Heather Dinich has Tennessee at No. 7 in her updated top 12 for the College Football Playoff after Week 2. The Vols are 2-0 after a 45-26 win over Syracuse and a 72-17 win over ETSU and now host Georgia on Saturday in the SEC opener at Neyland Stadium.
The current top four seeds for Dinich and ESPN are No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 LSU and No. 4 Florida State.
The other eight in the top 12 are No. 5 Oregon, No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 8 Georgia, No. 9 Texas, No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 11 Illinois and No. 12 Oklahoma.
Up Next: No. 15 Tennessee vs. No. 6 Georgia, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
The 12-team College Football Playoff bracket projection from ESPN has Iowa State as the No. 11 seed as the Big 12 champ, getting in ahead of Illinois, and South Florida as the No. 12 seed as the American champ, ahead of Oklahoma.
Dinich’s new first-round projection is Tennessee hosting No. 10 Notre Dame as well as No. 12 USF at No. 5 Oregon, No. 11 Iowa State at No. 6 Penn State and No. 9 Texas at No. 8 Georgia.
The Tennessee-Notre Dame winner would advance to face No. 2 Miami in the quarterfinal round.
“The Vols have scored at least 45 points in back-to-back games,” Dinich wrote of Tennessee. “They have not missed a step without quarterback Nico Iamaleava. The season-opening win against Syracuse was respectable, but the Orange needed overtime to beat UConn in Week 2, so the jury is still out on the true value of that nonconference win.
“It’s still better, though, than what some other contenders are lining up and knocking down. That wasn’t the case on Saturday, when the Vols hammered FCS opponent East Tennessee State.”
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ESPN: Tennessee has 53% chance to make College Football Playoff
Tennessee dropped one spot to No. 9 in ESPN’s updated Football Power Index, which gives the Vols a 53.0% chance to make the College Football Playoff.
Dinich argued Tennessee could be ranked as No. 6 in place of Penn State in a playoff ranking after the first two weeks.
“There could be a debate between the Vols and Penn State,” she wrote, “as the Nittany Lions are the only team ranked above Tennessee without a Power 4 win.”
Penn State beat Nevada 46-11 in Week 1 and beat FIU 34-0 on Saturday.
“Tennessee’s win against a Southern Conference team won’t impress the committee,” Dinich wrote, “but unlike Penn State, the Vols have been consistently dominant on offense.”
