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College Football Playoff selection committee explains why Tennessee got jumped in rankings

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey11/13/24GrantRamey
Boo Carter. Credit: Tennessee Athletics
Boo Carter. Credit: Tennessee Athletics

Indiana’s 20-15 win over Michigan and BYU’s rally to beat Utah 22-21 last week were enough for the College Football Playoff selection committee to jump both teams past Tennessee in Tuesday night’s updated rankings. 

The Vols stayed at No. 7 in the rankings and No. 8 in the projected bracket Tuesday, hosting No. 9-seed Notre Dame in a first-round playoff game at Neyland Stadium. 

College Football Playoff selection committee chair Warde Manuel said during a conference call after the rankings release that Nico Iamaleava’s injury did not factor into Tennessee staying put.

Instead, it was all about what Indiana and BYU did last week.

“I can say no to the injury to Tennessee’s quarterback,” Manuel said. “It had nothing to do with it. It really came down to the play last week of both Indiana and BYU, both winning big games on their schedule.”

Tennessee at Georgia, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC

The other first-round matchups in the new bracket were No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Ohio State, No. 11 Ole Miss at No. 6 Penn State and No. 10 Alabama at No. 7 Indiana. Oregon, Texas, BYU and Oregon received byes into the quarterfinal round.

Tennessee didn’t move up in the rankings despite both Georgia and Miami losing on Saturday. Georgia lost 28-10 at Ole Miss and Miami lost 28-23 at Georgia Tech.

Instead, BYU went from No. 9 last week to No. 6 on Tuesday. Indiana went from No. 8 last week to No. 5 this week.

“Tennessee,” Manuel said, “the offense has struggled some the second half of the season, not being consistent early in the year.

“And we just felt as a committee that at this time Indiana has been playing very well, a close win against Michigan, but other than that, they’ve dominated everyone they’ve played.”

‘We just felt that Indiana and BYU earned the 5 and the 6 slot’

Oregon was ranked No. 1 Tuesday, ahead of No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Penn State, No. 5 Indiana and No. 6 BYU. Behind No. 7 Tennessee was No. 8 Notre Dame, No. 9 Miami, No. 10 Alabama, No. 11 Ole Miss, No. 12 Georgia and No. 13 Boise State.

Georgia was the first team out of the bracket despite being ranked No. 12 by the committee. Boise State was seeded No. 12 in the bracket as the highest-ranked Group of Five team.

Tennessee’s strength of schedule, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index, is ranked No. 35. The Vols have the sixth toughest remaining schedule, with road games at Georgia and Vanderbilt. 

BYU’s strength of schedule is No. 54 and Indiana is No. 100. 

“BYU,” Manuel said, “obviously undefeated, two wins against top-25 opponents, at SMU and against Kansas State. In looking at it, as we assessed all the teams, we just felt that Indiana and BYU earned the 5 and the 6 slot, and Tennessee stayed where they are.”

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