Four arguments against Tennessee football’s inclusion in the College Football Playoff rankings
Tuesday night saw the announcement of the Week 13 College Football Playoff rankings, which drew the customary criticism. The Florida State Seminoles lost to the Washington Huskies for the No. 4 place, which is not surprising. The biggest surprise, though, was that Tennessee football made the rankings, even though they lost to Georgia last Saturday for the fourth time this season.
Last Saturday evening, the Volunteers hosted SEC East rival and the No. 1 team in the country, the Georgia Bulldogs. One play in, and Tennessee football was already up 7-0 after running back Jaylen Wright ran 75 yards for a touchdown. Minus a field goal just before the half, that’s all the points Tennessee would score to Georgia’s 38.
It wasn’t surprising in the least that Tennessee lost, but they lost by four touchdowns. Georgia only entered the game as a 9.5-point favorite. The Bulldogs are without a doubt playing their best football right now, but a then No. 18 Tennessee team playing in the comfy confines of their own home they’ve barely lost in over the past three seasons should have put up a better fight than that.
That’s why it doesn’t make any sense that Tennessee would only drop three spots in this week’s CFP rankings, from 18 to 21.
Tennessee football hasn’t beaten a ranked opponent in 2023
Out of the three ranked opponents they’ve faced this season on their schedule — No. 11 Alabama, No. 14 Missouri, No. 1 Georgia — the Volunteers didn’t win a single one of those games, going 0-3. They were outscored 137-53 in those games.
Clemson is a better four-loss team than Tennessee
There are only two four-loss teams in the CFP rankings in Week 13: the Volunteers and the Tigers. It’s actually Clemson’s first appearance in the CFP rankings all season, and their first time being ranked since they dropped out of the AP poll just two weeks into the season after a loss to Duke the first week and a bad outing against Charleston Southern the following week.