Tennessee football can still make CFP: How Vols can be assured a spot
![Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart celebrates with his players and fans after their victory over Florida. The annual Georgia vs Florida football rivalry was held at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, FL Saturday, October 29, 2022. The Bulldogs went in at halftime with a 28 to 3 lead over the Gators and won with a final score of 42 to 20. [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union]Jki 102822 Bs Georgia Vs Florida Football Game 2nd Half 05](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fea7dc689cc0a836aab6d0ed570cfcfecd1452395e274b1068aac653aabec6e73.jpg "Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart celebrates with his players and fans after their victory over Florida. The annual Georgia vs Florida football rivalry was held at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, FL Saturday, October 29, 2022. The Bulldogs went in at halftime with a 28 to 3 lead over the Gators and won with a final score of 42 to 20. [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union]Jki 102822 Bs Georgia Vs Florida Football Game 2nd Half 05")
1. Georgia wins out
In addition to LSU being Tennessee football’s ace in the hole as a quality win, the Vols need Georgia to win out. That would mean at least one of their two losses is the best loss anybody could have. Should Georgia beat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and LSU in the SEC Championship game, they will have finished 13-0.
Now, that would mean they beat LSU. Although LSU would need an extra game to get that one more loss than the Vols, they will have also lost to Rocky Top by 27 at home, so there will be no selling point to keep them ahead of UT. However, they’ll still be a quality win for the Vols since they will be 10-3 with 10 regular season wins.
Look, no matter what happens, Georgia isn’t competition for the Vols anymore in the playoff hunt. If they lose both of their next two games, they’ll have the same number of losses as UT while having played an extra game and beaten them. Also, it’ll mean a loss to LSU, which would keep the Tigers ahead of the Vols. Simply put, UT needs Georgia to beat LSU.
If Tennessee football wins all of these things we have mentioned on this slideshow happen, then there will only be five Power Five teams with fewer than three losses, the Vols being one of them. It’ll come down to them and TCU, and we already mentioned the case against TCU.
Next. Five Vols to watch for at Vanderbilt. dark
This would result in the playoff being Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State and the Vols, rendering this weekend’s Michigan-Ohio State game irrelevant. There is no chance for UT to move ahead of any of those three teams before the final CFP rankings come out, so this is their clear path.