Tennessee Volunteers Labeled 'First Four Out' in College Football Playoff Predictions

The Tennessee Volunteers have been labeled as a 'first four out' team for the upcoming college football playoff.

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 labeled as a 'first four out' team for the upcoming college football playoff.

The Tennessee Volunteers have been considered a team to keep an eye on this season to potentially make a push for a college football playoff spot. Nico Iamaleava entering his first season as the full-time starter has created some hesistancy, but he is also a big reason why people think the Volunteers could pull it off. However, according to one national sports outlet, Tennessee will come up just short.

Heather Dinich of ESPN released her college football playoff predictions and included her "first four out" teams, which is where the Volunteers fell on the list. In fact, it was nothing but SEC teams on this list. LSU, Missouri, Tennessee and Oklahoma were all labeled first four out teams, and here was Dinich's reasoning for putting Tennessee there.

"The Vols will show improvement from a year ago, but they will be stuck on the bubble because of road losses to Oklahoma and Georgia and a possible home loss to Alabama. The biggest question remains in the secondary, which struggled last season and is under construction this year."

Secondary concerns are reasonable. Especially after the loss of Jourdan Thomas for the season, it might be true freshman Boo Carter stepping into a starting role this season. It should also be noted that Dinich had Alabama, Ole Miss, Texas and Georgia making the playoff, so all three of Tennessee's losses in this scenario would come at the hands of three playoff teams.

Even if the 2024 season is not Tennessee's year to make their debut as a college football playoff team, the next season is certainly shaping up to be one where the Volunteers could make a strong push out of the SEC.

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

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