Tennessee Volunteers Given Great Odds to Be First Time College Football Playoff Team

The Tennessee Volunteers have been given some of the best odds to be a first-time college football playoff team this season.

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel during Tennessee football's fall practice, in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, August 3, 2024. / Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Tennessee Volunteers have been given some of the best odds to be a first-time college football playoff team this season.

They may not be the most popular pick but the Tennessee Volunteers are being viewed as a potential playoff candidate. It should be very impressive if head coach Josh Heupel could pull that off in a season in which he has a first-year starting quarterback, but the Volunteers have enough pieces on both sides of the ball for people to buy some stock into it. ESPN took a slice of the stock in their most recent article.

The major news outlet ranked the first-time college football playoff contenders for this season and Tennessee was ranked third with a 36.9% chance to reach the playoff. They were only listed behind Missouri and Penn State. The expanded playoff helps the Volunteers' chances of making the playoffs as it does everyone, but ESPN was also quick to explain how their playoff hopes could be derailed as well.

"Conference expansion. Tennessee's trip to Oklahoma on Sept. 21 is now a conference game, and ESPN's FPI gives the Sooners a 59.9% chance to win. If the Vols lose three games (at Oklahoma, vs. Alabama and at Georgia), their playoff hopes will likely shatter. There's not enough on the rest of the schedule to compensate for that in the committee meeting room, where wins against ranked opponents are a major focus. Tennessee has a respectable nonconference game against NC State in Charlotte, but wins against Chattanooga, Kent State and UTEP won't separate the Vols from other contenders, and their other SEC opponents might not be ranked. - Heather Dinich"

Tennessee will have to win at least one game between Georgia, Alabama and Oklahoma while also remaining flawless everywhere else on the schedule. It's not a playoff or bust season for the Volunteers but if everything goes right for them this season they will absolutely be a playoff-contending team and the Volunteers will have a shot to play for a national title this season.

Other Tennessee News:

• Tony Vitello Turnaround Nothing Short of Brilliant for Tennessee Baseball
• Jaylen Williams Cuts Recruitment to Four Schools
• Tennessee Vols Football Could Make Playoff According to CFB Data Model

Join the Community:

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top right-hand corner of the page. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook @VolunteerCountry & follow us on Twitter at @VCountryFN.