Tennessee Football Bowl Projections: Vols Back in Playoff Field

The Vols are back in the conversation for the College Football Playoff after beating Alabama.

Tanner Johnson | Oct 21, 2024

Oct 19, 2024; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers fans tear down the goal posts after a victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide and at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images / Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

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Following a close overtime victory over unranked Florida, the Vols were dropped from the projected playoff field. But after defeating Alabama, they are right back in it.

ESPN writers Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach updated their bowl projections after Week 8. Both writers disagree on where Tennessee will end up in the postseason, but one of them picked the Vols to make the 12-team playoff field.

Sclabach has the Vols as the No. 8 seed in the field and hosting No. 9 Clemson. It would be a rematch of the 2022 Orange Bowl that saw Tennessee defeat Clemson 31–14. The Tigers have looked very strong since losing their season-opening game to Georgia. They have won six games in a row and are fresh off a victory over Virginia 48–31.

Bonagura does not agree that Tennessee will make the playoffs at this point. He has Tennessee facing off against Louisville in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. This would be the first time that the Vols have played in the Gator Bowl since the end of the 2019 season.

After the win over Alabama, Tennessee has put itself in a great position to make the playoffs. The toughest game left on the Vols’ schedule is the trip to Georgia on November 16. Even if Tennessee loses that game, they could likely still get into the 12-team field as a 10-2 SEC team.

The Vols are currently on a bye week as they wait to take on Kentucky in Neyland Stadium on November 2.