Skip to main content
Tennessee

On3's Brett McMurphy adds Tennessee to new College Football Playoff projections

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey10/15/25GrantRamey
Saul Young/The Knoxville News-Sentinel Tennessee cheerleaders run across the end zone in celebration after Tennessee scored against Arkansas in an NCAA college football game on Oct. 11, 2025, in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Saul Young/The Knoxville News-Sentinel Tennessee cheerleaders run across the end zone in celebration after Tennessee scored against Arkansas in an NCAA college football game on Oct. 11, 2025, in Knoxville, Tennessee.

If Brett McMurphy’s College Football Playoff predictions come to life, Tennessee’s game at Alabama Saturday night will just be a preview of what’s to come the third week of December. 

On3’s college football insider this week added the Vols to his updated playoff projections, giving Tennessee a No. 11 seed and a trip to Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa to face No. 6 seed Alabama in the first round. 

Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) goes to Alabama (5-1, 3-0) — McMurphy’s seeding matches the rankings for both teams this week in the Associated Press Top 25 and Coaches Poll — for a 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time start on ABC.

McMurphy’s other first-round matchups were No. 12 Memphis at No. 5 Indiana, No. 9 Georgia at No. 8 Oregon and No. 10 Georgia Tech at No. 7 Ole Miss. His top four seeds were No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas A&M and No.  4 Texas Tech. 

McMurphy predicted Alabama to beat Tennessee and advance to face Texas A&M in the Sugar Bowl. He also had No. 7 Ole Miss facing No. 2 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, No. 5 Indiana facing No. 4 Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl and No. 8 Oregon facing No. 1 Miami in the Orange Bowl. 

Reliaquest, Citrus and Gator Bowls also projected for Vols

Tennessee was also added to this week’s College Football Playoff projection from Athlon, which also had the Vols as the No. 11 seed, going on the road to face No. 6 Ole Miss.

Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura agreed on Tennessee in their new ESPN bowl projections, with both writers have the Vols in Orlando to face Nebraska in the Citrus Bowl. 

USA Today had Tennessee in the Gator Bowl against Virginia. CBS Sports had the Vols in Tampa for the Reliaquest Bowl vs. Nebraska and Sports Illustrated had a Tennessee-Nebraska matchup in the Reliaquest Bowl.

Tennessee ‘on the cusp’ on College Football Playoff bubble

ESPN on Tuesday had Tennessee in the “on the cusp” category while breaking down the SEC teams on the College Football Playoff bubble. 

“The Vols are projected in the committee’s No. 12 spot this week,” Dinich wrote, “which means they would get knocked out of the actual field during the seeding process to make room for the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion. 

“The five highest-ranked conference champions are guaranteed spots in the playoff, so if the fifth team is ranked outside of the committee’s top 12, its No. 12 team gets the boot.”