This was the break Tennessee Volunteers fans were hoping for! On Saturday, No. 9 Ole Miss traveled to The Swamp to take on 5-5 Florida in a game the Rebels were supposed to have no issues taking care of business in.
However, in stunning fashion, DJ Lagway and Co. looked fantastic and the Gators were able to post a 24-17 upset over Lane Kiffin and his playmakers. This was not something a lot of people expected, but you know what, Josh Heupel and the Vols could not be happier about the result.
Why, you ask? Because with the defeat, Ole Miss has now fallen to 8-3 on the season. They were also one of the questionable teams ranked higher than the Vols by the College Football Playoff committee. With this loss, though, the committee can no longer have Tennessee on the outside looking in. Nope, they should move up following the win over UTEP and have one foot in the door for the 2024 CFP.
Tennessee now has one foot in the door for the CFP after Ole Miss lost to Florida
Earlier in the week, Heupel and his players said they had to focus on only what they could control. While they were surely hoping for some outside help, they also wanted to make sure they kept in mind that their CFP dreams would be ruined if they lost to UTEP. That wasn't close to happening, however, with Tennessee recording an unreal victory.
Elsewhere, Ohio State owned Indiana, with plenty of people now calling for the Hoosiers to take a deep dive in the rankings once they're released on Tuesday night. It was a rough performance for Curt Cignetti and Co., as they had a chance to make a statement, but they dropped the ball.
For Tennessee, everyone was ticked off with the No. 11 spot in the CFP, which had them projected to be the first team out for the first round. However, with Ole Miss and Kiffin blowing it on the road, the Vols should be right back where they belong in the projections for the next rankings. We don't like showing Billy Napier and Florida love often, but hats off to the Gators for this enormous help.