National college football analyst makes a change to his College Football Playoff that involves the Tennessee Vols

Just a few weeks after predicting that the Tennessee Vols will miss the College Football Playoff in 2024, On3 national college football analyst Jesse Simonton has changed his mind.

On Monday, Simonton revealed his "bold predictions" for the 2024 season and he noted that he now has Tennessee making the newly expanded 12-team College Football Playoff instead of the Missouri Tigers.

Simonton has Tennessee as the No. 11 seed in the first ever 12-team playoff. But he has the Vols losing to the Oregon Ducks in the first round.

Tennessee's goal in 2024 isn't to just make the playoff -- they've made it clear this offseason that they plan to compete for a national championship this fal l .

But even though losing in the first round would mean that the Vols fell short of their goal, it would still be quite an accomplishment for Josh Heupel's program. Just being relevant in the post-season would be a big step forward for a program that hasn't gone to a conference championship game since 2007.

It seems like the national media is starting to believe in Tennessee as a playoff contender. That's a good thing for the Vols when it comes to the perception of the program, but it doesn't actually mean anything. Regardless of what the predictions say, the Vols will have to earn their playoff spot on the field this fall.

Related: Former Sooners QB Jason White offers strong comments on Josh Heupel's time at Oklahoma and Heupel's exit from Norman