Tennessee football to play Oregon in College Football Playoff prediction

Tennessee football is a fringe College Football Playoff team heading into Josh Heupel's fourth year as the head coach. A large part of that is because of the hype around redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who will take the reigns of the offense this fall. 

This year's CFP will be the first year in its expanded format. From its inception in the 2014 season, only four teams made the playoffs, but a decade later, we will see 12 teams make the playoffs for the first time. 

Many players, coaches, and media members have advocated for an expanded playoff due to the yearly criticism about the fifth-best team not getting a spot. This past season, Georgia was on the outside looking in, and if they had made the playoffs, there was a good chance they would win their third-straight national title. 

With the new expanded playoffs, Tennessee has become a contender. They might not be a bonafide National Championship contender in year one with Nico, but they could still earn a spot in the CFP and make some noise. On3 Sports' Andy Staples is buying into the hype, at least enough to predict Tennessee will make the College Football Playoffs. 

In Staples' prediction, Tennessee would be heading back to Eugene, Oregon, in the first round of the College Football Playoffs. Tennessee is the 11-seed, while Oregon is the 6-seed. If the Vols were to drop to No. 12, they would head to Tuscaloosa and play Alabama. If they jumped to No. 10, they would go to Austin, Texas, and face Texas. 

To no one's surprise, the CFP field heavily favors the SEC and Big Ten. There are five SEC teams, four Big Ten teams, one ACC team, one Big 12 team, and Notre Dame. 

Ohio State, Georgia, Florida State, and Kansas State are the top four teams, all earning a bye in the first round. Here is Andy Staples' full top-12 College Football Playoff field and the first-round matchups.

1. Ohio State

2. Georgia

3. Alabama

4. Oregon

5. Texas

6. Michigan

7. Florida State

8. Notre Dame

9. Ole Miss

10. Kansas State

11. Tennessee 

12. Penn State

First-round matchups
No. 12. Boise State at No. 5. Alabama

No. 11 Tennessee at No. 6 Oregon

No. 10 Ole Miss at No. 7 Texas

No. 9. Notre Dame at No. 8 Michigan