All for Tennessee
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All for Tennessee Official College Football Playoff Watch Following Week 5: Vols Should be No. 1

By Caleb Calhoun

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Dec 31, 2014; Atlanta , GA, USA; General view of the logo on the field prior to the game between the TCU Horned Frogs and the Mississippi Rebels in the 2014 Peach Bowl at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Paul Abell/CFA Peach Bowl via USA TODAY Sports
Dec 31, 2014; Atlanta , GA, USA; General view of the logo on the field prior to the game between the TCU Horned Frogs and the Mississippi Rebels in the 2014 Peach Bowl at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Paul Abell/CFA Peach Bowl via USA TODAY Sports /

Who Plays Whom?

Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl: No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers vs No. 3 Clemson Tigers

We have already explained why the Vols deserve to be No. 1 in our College Football Playoff rankings. Well, as a result, they would get the benefit of playing their playoff semifinal game close to home. And right now, that is the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, just three hours away from Knoxville.

On principle, the No. 1 team is supposed to play the No. 4 team, but the committee likes to avoid rematches. So if, against all odds, the Vols and Aggies somehow both got into the College Football Playoff, they wouldn’t play each other. That puts the No. 3 team in Tennessee’s place, who would be the Clemson Tigers. Dabo Swinney’s team going from South Carolina to the game would make for an epic sea of Orange in Atlanta. Of course, that happened in the 2003 Peach Bowl.

But that game didn’t end in the Vols’ favor.

Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 Michigan Wolverines vs No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies

Because the Vols would face the Clemson Tigers in Georgia, Texas A&M and Michigan would head out to Arizona to face each other in the Fiesta Bowl. Location-wise, that would seem to favor the Aggies over the Wolverines, but only the No. 1 team gets that advantage.

Anyway, Michigan and Texas A&M would make for an epic match-up between Jim Harbaugh’s standard, blue-collar style of football and Kevin Sumlin’s explosive style. Who could force the other team to play their game would win. But it would certainly be worth watching.

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