Bowl projections for Tennessee Football after the overtime loss to Georgia

ESPN’s Heather Dinich still projects Tennessee to currently be a College Football Playoff team even after the 44-41 overtime loss to Georgia at Neyland Stadium on Saturday. Outside of the bracket, though, two destinations are becoming more popular in this week’s updated bowl predictions. 

On3’s Brett McMurphy, ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach and CBS Sports all have the Vols projected to the ReliaQuest Bowl. McMurphy, Bonagura and Schalbach all have Tennessee-Nebraska matchups in Tampa, while CBS Sports has Tennessee-Michigan. 

The TaxSlayer Gator Bowl is the projection for both USA Today and College Football News, with both outlets projecting Tennessee to face Clemson in Jacksonville. 

Sports Illustrated is projecting Tennessee to face Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl. 

Vols are No. 10 seed in ESPN’s new playoff projections

Heather Dinich on Saturday night updated her current top 12 for the College Football Playoff, with Tennessee as a No. 10 seed going on the road in the first round to No. 7 Florida State. 

Ohio State remained the No. 1 seed, ahead of No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 LSU. The top four seeds in the 12-team bracket receive a bye into the second round. 

The other first-round matchups were No. 12 South Florida at No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 11 Iowa State at No. 6 Oregon and No. 9 Oklahoma at No. 8 Penn State. The Tennessee-Florida State winner would advance to face No. 2 Miami in the quarterfinals in Dinch’s bracket. 

“The Vols’ game was so close that Georgia coach Kirby Smart said afterward he almost felt like he should apologize,” Dinich wrote. “ … The (College Football Playoff) committee isn’t going to penalize the Vols for losing an overtime game at home to one of the SEC’s best teams, but it will wonder about allowing 44 points, 502 yards, and having 10 penalties and two turnovers. 

“The committee will still respect the season-opening win against Syracuse, which has won each of its past two games against weaker opponents.”

Where ESPN ranks Tennessee ESPN’s Football Power Index, SP+

Tennessee stayed at No. 15 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and Coaches Poll after the loss to Georgia. The Vols are ranked No. 6 in ESPN’s SP+ and No. 9 in ESPN’s Football Power Index.

The SP+ ranks Tennessee No. 10 on offense, No. 12 on defense and No. 16 on special teams. 

The FPI has Tennessee projected to go 9-3 — the exact projection is 8.6-3.4 — with a 99.3% chance to win six games or more and a 30.8% chance to make the College Football Playoff. 

Tennessee’s 30.8% chance to make the playoff is tied with Indiana for 14th highest. Ohio State, Georgia and Oregon lead at 77%.