These 13 people will rank Tennessee in College Football Playoff after Kentucky game
Tennessee's game against Kentucky will be its last chance to make a first impression to the College Football Playoff selection committee.
The No. 7 Vols (6-1, 3-1 SEC) play Kentucky (3-5, 1-5) on Saturday (7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network) at Neyland Stadium. And the first CFP ranking will be released on Nov. 5.
That’s when the 13-person CFP selection committee will reveal what it thinks of Tennessee so far. The group includes retired coaches, athletics directors, hall of fame players and sports writers.
Coach Josh Heupel said there’s only so much the Vols can do to impress them.
“You make your case by controlling what you control, which is your performance on Saturday,” Heupel said Monday. “There’s a ton of football (remaining). If you’re worried about the end result (of the CFP selection), you’re going to make the mistakes you can’t afford on the way to the end.”
Tennessee is in the mix for a playoff spot with at least half of projections putting the Vols in the bracket. But the CFP ranking is what matters.
The CFP selection committee will consider Tennessee’s full body of work, including an impressive win over Alabama and a disappointing loss at Arkansas. And the Vols have five games remaining to boost their resume, including a trip to No. 2 Georgia.
But where Tennessee starts in the CFP ranking matters because it will reveal what the committee thinks of the Vols so far. The final CFP selection will be released Dec. 8.
ADAMS Kentucky deserves more credit for its contributions to Tennessee football
Here’s who picks the 12 playoff teams
The 12-team playoff field will include five conference champions ranked highest by the CFP selection committee, plus the next seven highest-ranked teams.
According to the CFP, the selection committee is a “dedicated group of high-integrity football experts, with experience as coaches, student-athletes, college administrators and journalists, along with sitting athletics directors.”
Here are the 13 members of the CFP selection committee:
Chris Ault, former Nevada coach and athletics director
Chet Gladchuk, former AD at Navy, Houston and Tulane
Jim Grobe, former coach at Ohio, Wake Forest and Baylor
Warde Manuel (committee chair), Michigan AD
Randall McDaniel, college and NFL hall-of-famer as player
Gary Pinkel, former coach at Toledo and Missouri
Mack Rhoades, Baylor AD
Mike Riley, former coach at Oregon State and Nebraska
David Sayler, Miami (Ohio) AD
Will Shields, college and NFL hall-of-famer as player
Kelly Whiteside, veteran college football sports reporter
Carla Williams, Virginia AD
Hunter Yurachek, Arkansas AD
Fittingly, CFP ranking comes on Election Day
The first CFP ranking will be released on Election Day. And voting on the 12-team playoff field could be as close as picking a president.
For example, ESPN.com asked its 12 college football experts to project the playoff field. Six put Tennessee in the bracket and six did not.
In USA TODAY’s projection, Tennessee is the No. 8 seed and hosts No. 9 seed Texas A&M in a first-round game at Neyland Stadium.
But many other projections left off Tennessee. Recency bias explains some of that because the Vols did not play last week while other playoff contenders like Texas A&M and Notre Dame had impressive wins.
How Tennessee can help its case besides beating Georgia
Tennessee has a manageable schedule to finish with at least a 10-2 record, which should keep it in contention. The Vols play Mississippi State (Nov. 9), at Georgia (Nov. 16), UTEP (Nov. 23) and at Vanderbilt (Nov. 30).
If the Vols upset Georgia and finished 11-1, they’d easily make the CFP and likely the SEC championship game.
According to CFP protocol, teams are selected based on their strength of schedule, head-to-head competition, comparative outcomes of common opponents (without incenting margin of victory) and “other relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.”
That last criterion hints at a key part of the process. The CFP committee usually favors teams that show an upward trajectory late in the season.
That’s where Tennessee could strengthen its case.
The Vols already have a dominant defense, which is ranked No. 3 in points allowed (11.6) and yards allowed (259) per game. If they can show marked improvement in their offense under quarterback Nico Iamaleava, they’ll look like a deserving playoff team.
“Players here me say it: Good teams continue to get better,” Heupel said. “Our best football is still out in front of us. We got to go chase that.”
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Here’s who ranks Tennessee in College Football Playoff after Kentucky game
