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Tennessee football: Vols fans’ rooting guide to make best possible bowl game

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers brings his team onto the field prior to a game against the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers brings his team onto the field prior to a game against the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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If they go 7-5, Tennessee football has a chance to make a great bowl game. Here are games with rooting interest for the Volunteers’ postseason prospects.

There are just a couple of simple things that have to happen for Tennessee football to make its best bowl appearance possible, which would be the Citrus Bowl. First, they have to finish as high in the SEC as possible. Second, they have to hope as many SEC teams make New Year’s Six bowl games as possible.

Well, the highest possible the Vols can finish in the league, from a conglomerate perspective, is sixth. And there is a chance for five SEC teams to make New Year’s Six bowl games. Now, the first thing that has to happen is for UT to beat the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Then, where they finish will come down to one game. But if they finish sixth, how can five SEC teams make New Year’s Six bowl games? Well, there’s a clear path if you break it down, and it should impact the rooting interest of all Tennessee football fans this weekend.

When you combine the College Football Playoff bowls and the other four, there is room for 12 teams. Six get automatic bids: the Power Five conference champions and the top Group of Five team. The other six are at-large teams, always elite programs from the Power Five.

Undoubtedly, the Big Ten will have at least one at-large team, likely two, unless you have an amazing series of upsets over the next two weeks. At the same time, the ACC will have none. That leaves the Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC in play. In order for five at-large teams to come from the SEC, they likely need two teams to make the College Football Playoff, but they at least need one.

Right now, five SEC teams are in the top 16. The key is for those teams to get into the top 12 and make sure that after all the automatic bids are crowned, nobody else outside of those two Big Ten at-large teams has fewer than than three losses. That way, the at-large spots go to two Big Ten schools and four SEC schools, making for five SEC schools making New Year’s Six bowl games.

At 9-2, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are an exception. But if things break the way we expect them to, a three-loss SEC team will be far more deserving of a New Year’s Six bowl than Notre Dame. That’s indisputable. To make this happen and allow the Vols to reach the Citrus Bowl, we’ve compiled a list of 10 games that need to break a certain way for Rocky Top this weekend.

If all 10 happen UT will head to Orlando. Eight of them are extremely possible, in some cases likely, and for four least likely ones, there are actually alternative scenarios, which we’ll break down in a final slide. Of course, the Vols have to beat Vanderbilt. But everybody knows that. This is a rooting guide for Tennessee football fans outside of that game.

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