Tennessee is a “Tier 4” team in college football this season according to ESPN , which split all 134 Division I teams into 20 tiers this week. It’s “equally possible,” David Hale wrote, that the Vols could be a College Football Playoff team or go 7-5.
Arizona, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma and Utah were the other five teams in Tier 4.
“There are no fewer than nine teams with genuine playoff hopes in the SEC,” Hale wrote . “Nine, in fact, are currently ranked among the top 16 teams in the country by SP+. One of those teams will have to finish ninth (or worse!) in its own league.
“And that’s not even considering Auburn or Florida, teams with annual aspirations of greatness but, based on recent history, a bit more pessimistic a fan base than usual.”
There were four teams in Tier 1: Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon and Texas. Tier 2 had four more teams: Alabama, Notre Dame, Ole Miss and Penn State. Tier 3 was Clemson, Florida State, LSU and Michigan.
ESPN predicted Tennessee to be a bubble team for the first 12-team College Football Playoff , but ending up as one of the first four teams left out. LSU, Missouri and Oklahoma were also predicted to just miss the playoff.
“The Vols will show improvement from a year ago,” ESPN Senior Writer Heather Dinich wrote , “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.”
ESPN’s prediction for the 12 playoff teams included first-round byes for No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Florida State and No. 4 Utah. The first-round matchups were No.12 Boise State at No. 5 Texas, No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Ole Miss, No. 11 Penn State at No. 6 Oregon and No. 10 Miami at No. 7 Notre Dame.
ESPN’s next four out, after LSU, Missouri, Tennessee and Oklahoma, were Michigan, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Clemson.
Tennessee is ranked No. 14 in ESPN’s College Football Preseason Power Rankings , one spot ahead of where the Vols were ranked in both the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 and US LBM Preseason Coaches Poll in recent weeks.
Four opponents on Tennessee’s schedule made ESPN’s top 25, with No. 1 Georgia coming in ahead of No. 5 Alabama, No. 17 Oklahoma and No. 20 North Carolina State.
ESPN’s Football Power Index has Tennessee ranked No. 9 overall with a projected win-loss of 8.6-3.5. The FPI gives the Vols a 95.4% chance to win at least six games, a 5.5% chance to win the SEC, a 36.9% chance to make the 12-team College Football Playoff, a 6.0% chance to make the national championship game and a 2.7% chance to win the national title.
Tennessee was ranked No. 15 in ESPN’s final preseason SP+ rankings last week with an overall rating of 19.2, an offensive rating of 37.7, defensive rating of 18.6 and special teams ratings of 0.2.
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