CFP committee doubles down on its Tennessee mistake with final rankings

UT is on the road for Round 1.

UTEP v Tennessee
UTEP v Tennessee | Johnnie Izquierdo/GettyImages

After a long wait, we now know where the Tennessee Vols football team is going to be for the first round of the College Football Playoff. Unfortunately, Josh Heupel and Co. are not going to be playing one more contest at Neyland Stadium.

Nope, the College Football Playoff committee made sure that the road for Heupel and his players is going to be a tough one. Last week, the Vols were stunningly ranked behind Ohio State. This week, for the final rankings, fans were hoping that the committee would come to its senses, but the Vols have been given the No. 9 seed and they'll be on the road to face No. 8 Ohio State in Round 1.

The Tennessee Vols will play Ohio State in the CFP first round

When Ohio State was embarrassed at home to Michigan to close out the regular season, Tennessee should have been higher than the Buckeyes. The committee didn't penalize OSU enough, which was infuriating. Now, Tennessee will have to travel to Columbus instead of the Buckeyes taking a trip to UT.

Heupel had a feeling this was going to happen, but he made it more than clear that he didn't care who or where the Vols would be placed for the first round. His guys are going to be ready to rock no matter what, which is the right mindset to have.

Now that we know Tennessee is going to be playing Ohio State, you already know this is going to be a game won in the trenches. The Vols are going to want to pound the rock, but the Buckeyes have a great defensive line.

It will be on the UT linemen to be difference makers. Soon enough, these two sides will face off in what should be a thrilling matchup. The winner of Ohio State vs. Tennessee will then move on to the quarterfinals to take on No. 1 Oregon in Eugene.

Schedule

Schedule