Saturday night already has Tennessee’s biggest test of the season on deck, but the Vols’ playoff path is being shaped all over the country, too.
No. 13 Tennessee is set to face No.
6 Kentucky in a game that could swing the entire conversation around the Vols. A win keeps UT alive in the playoff chase.
A loss could wipe out what’s left of those hopes. But while that one matters most, there are several other results around the country that would make life easier for Tennessee.
The cleanest help may come from Baton Rouge, where No. 14 LSU is taking on No.
5 Alabama. There’s a case for either side, but the better outcome for Tennessee is an LSU win.
That would give Alabama its third loss. If the Tide win instead, LSU would be the team taking that third loss.
The reason the Tigers win out here is simple: Tennessee still has LSU on the schedule in a couple of weeks, which means the Vols could deliver that third loss themselves. The idea is to let Alabama absorb the damage now and leave LSU for later.
There is a reasonable pushback, though. Tennessee already has a win over Alabama, and the Tide are sitting at No.
- A win for Alabama would strengthen Tennessee’s resume, while a loss might not even knock them out of the playoff picture.
Another result that would help Tennessee is No. 2 Georgia winning at No.
10 Ole Miss. The Rebels are part of that crowded group of two-loss SEC teams, while Georgia is one of the two teams in the field with just one loss.
Since the Bulldogs are on track for the SEC title game and the playoffs, it helps Tennessee more if Ole Miss picks up that crucial third loss and falls further behind.
The same logic applies to No. 7 Texas at No.
18 Missouri, even if this one is a little trickier. Both teams have two losses, and a third would be a major problem for either one.
Texas already beat Tennessee, but the Longhorns are also ranked higher because of it. From Tennessee’s perspective, knocking Missouri out of the mix and improving the Vols’ strength of schedule makes the most sense, especially with that early home loss looking better if Missouri keeps winning.
There’s also a game involving one of Tennessee’s own opponents: No. 21 South Carolina against Texas A&M.
Since both teams are still on the Vols’ schedule, either result has some value. But because Tennessee already lost in Columbia, a South Carolina win would make that loss look better and better.
If the Vols handle the rest of their business, it’s hard to see the Gamecocks catching them. If Tennessee stumbles again, South Carolina could move ahead, though at that point the playoff picture would already be hanging by a thread.
Out of conference, No. 1 Miami against No.
11 Notre Dame still matters for Tennessee’s at-large hopes. Notre Dame already has one loss to BYU, and another could be enough to end the Irish’s playoff hopes.
If Notre Dame wins, though, that would be a major boost to its résumé with a manageable schedule left. For Tennessee, the safer play is to let Miami stay at No. 1 and push Notre Dame out of the way.
There are also a few games that wouldn’t hurt Tennessee, even if they don’t directly swing the Vols’ path.
Minnesota beating No. 8 UCLA would hand the Bruins their first loss and damage their case in future seeding conversations.
West Virginia winning at No. 15 Texas Tech would add another loss to a team Tennessee is currently ahead of, so that would be fine for the Vols.
And No. 3 Utah beating No.
9 BYU would keep Utah undefeated and likely ahead of Tennessee anyway, while also potentially knocking BYU out. Utah also has a win over Arkansas, which would help the Razorbacks’ strength of schedule and, by extension, Tennessee’s.
A few other results would help the Vols’ strength of schedule directly: Vanderbilt winning at Mississippi State, Georgia Tech beating Louisville, and Kennesaw State beating Delaware.
In Other News...
Kentucky Player Tries To Explain Away Neyland After Tennessee Blowout
Tennessees win over Kentucky added another layer of postgame noise when backup tight end Mikkel Skinner took to a TikTok live stream and claimed the Volunteers were pumping in fake crowd noise at Neyland Stadium. Skinner suggested the volume on defensive third downs sounded more like speakers than a real home crowd, a charge that landed with plenty of attention given the atmosphere Tennessee typically brings on Saturdays in Knoxville.
The allegation was quickly met with a public denial from Tennessee athletic director Danny White, who pushed back on the idea that the stadium sound was manufactured. Similar claims have surfaced before and never been verified, but they tend to follow big Tennessee home games, especially when the crowd becomes part of the story as much as the scoreboard. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee's Playoff Push Just Took A Brutal Hit On Defense
Tennessees playoff chase picked up a major complication in the win over Kentucky, when pass-rusher Tyree Weathersby went down with a serious knee injury and will miss the rest of the season. Weathersby has been the Vols most disruptive edge presence, leading the team with seven sacks, and his absence leaves a noticeable hole in a defense that had counted on him to help close out games down the stretch.
With three games left, Tennessee now has to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive without its top sack producer. The timing is especially tough because the margin for error is already thin, and replacing that kind of pressure off the edge is never simple this late in the year. [Read more 🡒]
Arion Carter Just Sent Tennessees Defense A Bigger Message
Arion Carters afternoon against Kentucky fit right into what Tennessee has been leaning on all season: a defense that can take over a game and make an opponent feel stuck in place. The senior linebacker was everywhere in the 34-6 win, finishing with 13 tackles, four for loss and two sacks, and the Southeastern Conference rewarded him by naming him SEC Defensive Player of the Week. It was the kind of performance that underscored just how disruptive Tennessee has been when its front seven is rolling.
The bigger takeaway for the Volunteers is that this was not an isolated flash. Tennessees defense has already shut down other top-ranked teams this season, and Carters latest statement only adds to the sense that this unit is built for the biggest stages. The next test comes against Texas A&M, where the Volunteers will find out whether that same edge can travel into another SEC spotlight. [Read more 🡒]