Latest projection for Tennessee Vols' first CFP ranking doesn't make any sense

It's almost time for the Tennessee Volunteers to find out where they land in the first College Football Playoff rankings, as things are about to drop for the first time this year. Tennessee remains the No. 7 team in the country per the AP poll following the win over Kentucky.

If they keep on rocking, there's no reason they won't be a Top 5 squad in the nation. However, it's very much up in the air where the College Football Playoff committee will place them. If you ask On3 Sports' Jesse Simonton, though, he has Tennessee not as high as some would think.

Leading up to the first CFP rankings, Simonton has Tennessee projected to be the No. 10 team in the country. His list of teams ahead of Josh Heupel and Co. includes Penn State, Indiana and Notre Dame. The programs ranked 1-6, are Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia, Miami, Texas and BYU.

Of the other teams ahead of Tennessee, though, how in the heck is Notre Dame in front of them? ND is at No. 7, though they suffered a home loss against Northern Illinois. The Vols also have a loss on the year, but it was away from Neyland Stadium against Arkansas. Make it make sense.

New CFP projection has Tennessee checking in at No. 10

Could the sloppy play in the win over the Wildcats haunt Tennessee for Tuesday night's rankings? We sure hope not. While the offense was a bit up and down, you can't forget that the Vols' defense has been quite dominant this year.

Freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava is coming off one of his best performances of the season, while running back Dylan Sampson made history in the win over Kentucky. Should Tennessee indeed end up checking in at No. 10 in the eyes of the CFP committee, plenty of Vols players across the country are going to be quite furious - we won't blame them for having a negative reaction either.