It wasn't pretty and there's still plenty of frustration following the Tennessee football loss to Alabama on Saturday. Tennessee shot itself in the foot with way too many mistakes and Alabama undoubtedly made Josh Heupel and his players pay for them.
Kalen DeBoer pulled a sneaky recruiting move on Tennessee before Bama win
Despite that loss, Tennessee's second of the season, there's still hope for the Vols in terms of potentially reaching the College Football Playoff. Obviously, Tennessee needs to win out, as they won't get in with three defeats. That's why we believe it will all come down to the final game of the regular season going up against Vandy. The winner moves on to the CFP - the loser stays home.
Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt could determine which team sneaks into the College Football Playoff
Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt are riding high these days, as the Commodores were able to take down LSU at home in one of the biggest wins in recent program history. Because of that W, the Commodores are now the No. 10 team in the country.
Following the loss to Bama, the Vols are ranked No. 17 and they're hosting struggling Kentucky this weekend. Let's go ahead and assume Tennessee wins that game. It will improve to 6-2 on the year and then it will host No. 13 Oklahoma the following week in a MASSIVE game.
After that, there are showdowns against New Mexico State and Florida before the season finale at home against Vanderbilt. Assuming Vanderbilt wins out as well, it's going to set up an incredible meeting and environment at Neyland Stadium on Nov. 29.
Vanderbilt has one loss on the season, losing to the Crimson Tide early in the year. Pavia is looking like one of the top quarterbacks in the country, but Joey Aguilar is also playing pretty darn well for Josh Heupel. Those two should put on a show going up against one another.
Assuming things go to plan for both teams, the hype in late November leading up to the two sides facing off is going to be off the charts. Tennessee of course has to take care of business in the other games, with the Oklahoma one being a tilt that people might be a little worried about. If the Vols do and they also take care of Vanderbilt, then making the CFP for the second consecutive season will still be likely for them.