Tennessee moves up in College Football Playoff Top 25 after bye week

Tennessee Football moved up to No. 23 in the College Football Top 25 Tuesday night. The Vols were ranked No. 25 last week in the first playoff rankings of the season. Cincinnati is now ranked No. 25, behind South Florida at No. 24.

Tennessee has ranked in every College Football Playoff Top 25 since the 2022 season, with the streak now at 20 consecutive weeks.

The Vols on Sunday afternoon moved up two spots in both the Associated Press Top 25 and Coaches Poll, going up to No. 20 in the Coaches Poll and No. 21 in the AP Top 25 after the bye week.

Last week Tennessee dropped eight spots to No. 22 in the Coaches Poll and nine spots to No. 23 in the AP Top 25 after the 33-27 loss to Oklahoma at Neyland Stadium.

Tennessee (7-3) hosts New Mexico State (3-6) on Saturday, with kickoff scheduled for 4:15 p.m. Eastern Time on SEC Network. After hosting the Aggies, the regular-season schedule closes with a trip to Florida on November 22 and Senior Day against Vanderbilt at Neyland Stadium on November 29. 

Tennessee’s history in the College Football Playoff Top 25

Tennessee was ranked No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff Top 25 in 2022, after starting the season 8-0, and would finish at No. 6, after dropping as low as No. 10 following losses at Georgia and South Carolina.

The Vols made their debut at No. 17 in 2023 and moved up to No. 13 in the second rankings update, then dropped to No. 18 and spent the final three weeks ranked No. 21. 

Last season Tennessee started at No. 7, dropped to No. 11 after a loss at Georgia, then finished at No. 7 before getting a No. 9 seed in the first 12-team College Football Playoff bracket.

ESPN: Tennessee’s College Football Playoff chances down to 1.9%

Tennessee is ranked No. 14 in ESPN’s College Football Power Index, which gives the Vols just a 1.9% chance to reach the College Football Playoff after the loss to Oklahoma. 

The FPI predicts Tennessee to finish 8-4 — 8.2-3.8 is the exact win-loss projection — despite ESPN’s Matchup Predictor giving the Vols a 99.0% chance to beat New Mexico State, a 66.0% chance to win at Florida and a 58.8% chance to beat Vanderbilt.

Tennessee lost at Ohio State in the first round of the College Football Playoff last season, with the Buckeyes on their way to the national championship. The Vols have played in three games under Josh Heupel, losing to Purdue in the Music City Bowl in 2021, beating Clemson in the Orange Bowl in 2022 and beating Iowa in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day 2024.