Fresh off the win over then No. 6 Alabama, Tennessee found itself flirting with the Top 3 of the SEC rankings, ready to keep pushing for the top spot. However, everything changed when the Vols suffered a deflating loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks. Because of that defeat, UT dropped five spots in the AP Top 25 poll, now checking in at No. 16 in the country.
How about in the SEC? Unfortunately, more bad news is in for this group, as we've now got Tennessee at No. 7 in our conference rankings. With the Week 8 loss, the hope of reaching the College Football Playoff is hanging by a thread.
One more slip-up, and it could define the season in the worst way possible. Until that happens, though, there's still reason to believe Tennessee can push for the Playoff and climb up once again in the SEC standings.
SEC rankings after Week 8 with Georgia still in the top spot
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- LSU
- Alabama
- Texas
- Ole Miss
- Tennessee
- Missouri
- Florida
- Auburn
- South Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Mississippi State
- Texas A&M
- Arkansas
- Vanderbilt
Despite the stunning loss to Auburn in Week 7, Georgia and Kirby Smart are still No. 1 in the SEC, and now the No. 3 team in the nation per the AP Poll. With the Cocktail Party coming up this weekend, Smart is either going to remind everyone how dominant the Dawgs can be, or Jon Sumrall will be the one to land a haymaker in his debut for this incredible rivalry showdown.
In the No. 2 SEC spot, the Kentucky Wildcats and Will Stein are putting together a campaign for the ages. The days of Mark Stoops are long gone in Lexington, with Kentucky looking like a totally different team. Come Nov. 7, the Wildcats are going to want to change the narrative when it comes to taking on the Vols, but Josh Heupel HAS to have his guys ready for war.
Tennessee has won eight of the last 10 games against No. 9 Kentucky, but this indeed is going to have a different feel to it, with the Wildcats being a Top 10 squad. Both UT and UK will take the field off of a BYE, meaning the Wildcats and Vols will be fresh and likely healthier after the long stretch to start the season.
With a win against the Wildcats, Tennessee can get back into the Top 5 of the SEC rankings, while also getting its CFP odds back to a decent spot (currently at 23 percent). With a loss, however, it will be lights out on the Playoff, with another 8-9 season on the way for Heupel.
With four games left, Tennessee has what it takes to finish the season at 10-2. However, with more mental mistakes like what we saw against South Carolina -- 12 penalties for 90 yards -- an 8-4 finish could be in the works as well.
The amount of chaos everyone has seen in the SEC year has been wild, so it feels like everything is on the table. Tennessee will have to take things week-by-week, with the Kentucky game being the sole focus. A victory in that game would also get countless people off of Heupel's back, too...
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