Tennessee football could be a contender in first CFP rankings of 2022

Traditional scheduling for Tennessee football has always meant that, even in their heyday, being a contender in November is rare. That’s because unless they were going to play for the national championship, any regular season game that eliminated them from it would happen in September or October.

Of course, in the era of the College Football Playoff, that hasn’t been as relevant as the fact that they have simply struggled to be successful on the field. However, expectations this year combined with the scheduling could finally change that.

Based on the College Football Playoff rankings schedule, which was announced Thursday by CBS Sports, the Vols schedule this year and the expectations behind them, they may finally find themselves relevant in the first CFP rankings. Those will come out Tuesday, Nov. 1.

Up until that point, Tennessee football’s only certain loss will be against the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Vols have three sure wins in their non-conference games, the Ball State Cardinals, Akron Zips and UT Martin Skyhawks. They also have decisive advantages over the Pittsburgh Panthers, Florida Gators, LSU Tigers and Kentucky Wildcats.

Winning all four of those games is far from likely, but it’s certainly possible. Taking that into account, their only likely loss, and it’s almost a certain one, is against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Still, when those rankings come out, the Vols could find themselves 7-1.

We’ve broken down plenty of times before why they have advantages over the other schools. For a crash course recap, Pitt loses its quarterback and top receiver from last year, who carried the team. Florida and LSU have new head coaches. The Vols own Kentucky, beat them on the road last year and have them at home this year.

Anyway, if they do win all of those games and Alabama is their only loss, they would be in complete control of their own destiny to win the SEC Championship when November rolled aound. You could easily see them as a top 10 team at that point, maybe even top five.

The underrated part, though, is that Tennessee football visits the Georgia Bulldogs that week. UGA moving back from October, when it traditionally happened before last year, is what gives the Vols a better chance to be relevant now in November. That’s a huge boost.

Now, like Alabama, the UGA game is almost a circled loss. As a result, they won’t be a playoff contender the next week. However, it gives them a chance to find themselves a contender in at least one of the CFP rankings, something that hasn’t happened for them yet.

If you want to make a case for the Vols staying in the rankings, well, UGA loses a lot of talent, and maybe they’ll have some confidence if they are 7-1. However, in reality, beating Georgia in Athens is probably nearly impossible, just as beating Alabama is.

As a result, it’s a safe bet Tennessee football doesn’t stay in the playoff race barring a miracle. However, just being in there once, when you factor in the hype behind Josh Heupel, could be a huge deal with it comes to recruiting for the future. That makes this a goal worth pursuing.