Josh Heupel eases one College Football Playoff concern for Tennessee fans

Tennessee has been ranked the ninth seed in the first 12-team College Football Playoff, meaning the Vols will have to go on the road in their first-round matchup. Tennessee will head to Columbus, Ohio, to play the Ohio State Buckeyes in round one, which could pose a unique challenge for Josh Heupel and the Vols. 

One talking point over the past month has been the possibility of multiple SEC teams traveling north for the first round of the Playoffs and playing in colder weather.

The SEC has three teams in the College Football Playoff, but Tennessee is the only team heading north to play in the first round. Texas will host Clemson, and Georgia won the SEC Championship and earned a first-round bye. 

Heupel immediately addressed the potential concern for playing in cold weather in an interview with The Next Round after the final CFP rankings were released on Sunday.

"Not sure what the temperature will be up there at night," Heupel said on Sunday. "We played in 30-degree weather [against Vanderbilt]. For us, a lot of our practices are in the morning. We're outside. It'll be similar temperatures to what you're going to get up there. 

"Our guys got to be able to handle anything that comes at them. That's weather, it's outside distractions. It's us getting ready to go be our best 11 on 11 between the white lines. And we'll be ready to handle that and operate at a high level."

Since arriving on campus in 2021, Heupel has done a great job preparing his team for anything they face. As a result of Heupel and Tennessee's preparation, the Vols have won 10+ games in two out of the last three seasons, and this game won't be any different. 

Tennessee expects to practice outside often to prepare for the cold temperatures it could face in its game against Ohio State. 

"We'll be outside as much as we possibly can," Heupel continued. "Typically, the temperatures, at some point during this preparation, will mirror what we think we'll have on Saturday night up there. We typically get outside unless something's not right with the grass fields, as far as wet, damp, frost, whatever it might be."

It's not always warm and sunny on The Hill like the national media might make it out to be over the next couple of weeks. Tennessee will have time to prepare for any potential challenges that will come with the weather ahead of its first College Football Playoff matchup.