Tennessee football projected to play SEC rival in Round 1 of College Football Playoff

Tennessee football has cemented itself as a College Football Playoff contender after the season's first two weeks. The Vols have outscored opponents 114-13, including a dominant ranked win over North Carolina State in Charlotte. 

The Vols' back-to-back blowout wins have created a lot of buzz around the program, including a lot of predictions about Tennessee's future in the expanded 12-team Playoff. 

After Tennessee's 51-10 win over No. 24 North Carolina State, the country is taking Tennessee seriously, and the Vols have landed in some College Football Playoff projections as a result. ESPN's Mark Schlabach believes they could host an SEC rival in the first round of the CFP. 

Schlabach projects that Tennessee will make the Playoff as the No. 7 seed and host No. 10 Alabama in the first round. The Third Saturday in October returns to Neyland in December, and a spot in the CFP Quarterfinals is on the line. 

This is a real possibility for Tennessee this year if Tennessee can continue its winning ways and finish as one of the top teams in the SEC. The Vols are currently ranked the No. 7 team in the Associated Press Poll and come in at No. 5 in ESPN's Football Power Index rankings. 

If Tennessee can finish the year around the top five, it's highly likely that they will host a Playoff game. In the new, expanded College Football Playoff format, seeds one through four receive a BYE in the first round. Seeds five through eight host seeds nine through 12 in their home stadium. 

That means Tennessee could realistically host Alabama or another SEC team in Neyland in the first round of the College Football Playoffs. The Vols will have to continue handling business, though. Their next opponent is Kent State this Saturday at 6:45 PM ET on SEC Network.