Tennessee football at Georgia: 10 keys to the game for Vols and Bulldogs

9. Effect of College Football Playoff rankings

Game of the century hype was already a big deal with the Vols at No. 2 and Georgia No. 1 in the AP Poll. However, then the CFP rankings came out Tuesday night, and while Tennessee football had earned that No. 1 ranked given its resume, Kirby Smart’s team was down at No. 3, behind the Ohio State Buckeyes. That was a bit of a shocker.

There are two ways that could have an impact on the game, and both is how Georgia responds. The first is motivation. They should be motivated for this game anyway and likely are, but will it go to another level given the disrespect they received in this first round of rankings? It’s possible.

Secondly, though, is pressure. These rankings make clear that Georgia can afford to lose this game a lot less than the Vols since the Vols already have two top 10 wins by the CFP standards. A loss here likely knocks them out of playoff contention, so how will they respond to that.

On a lesser scale, you have to wonder if Tennessee football can remain humble and hungry after reaching No. 1 in the CFP, but they’ve managed expectations and pressure so well that it would be shocking if they didn’t. The real story is how UGA handles the disrespect and the pressure.