Tennessee football remained at No. 7 and Georgia dropped to No. 12 in the second College Football Playoff poll, released on Tuesday night.

Rest assured, their upcoming game will impact next week's CFP poll.

Tennessee (8-1, 5-1) plays Georgia (7-2, 5-2) on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

The Vols ranked No. 7 in the first CFP poll last week, but they stayed there in this second edition. Georgia dropped from No. 3 to No. 12 after losing 28-10 to Ole Miss.

The CFP selection committee ranks the Top 25 teams for the new 12-team playoff format. The rankings will be updated each Tuesday for the next three weeks, and the final CFP field will be announced on Dec. 8.

There are five guaranteed spots (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC champions, plus highest-ranked non P4 conference champion). And then seven teams get at-large bids, based on their ranking in the CFP poll.

The four highest ranked conference champions get a first-round bye. If these second rankings determined the playoff, Tennessee would host Notre Dame in a first-round game at Neyland Stadium. However, the rankings will change each week, so stay tuned.

The Vols have a path to the playoff in the first season that the bracket expands to 12 teams. Their strongest win was over Alabama, and their lone loss was at Arkansas. But beating Georgia would make it a lot easier.

Tennessee is ranked No. 4 in the US LBM Coaches Poll and No. 6 in the AP Top 25 after a 33-14 win over Mississippi State in Week 11 of the 2024 season.

NICO IAMALEAVA IN CONCUSSION PROTOCOL QB practiced for Tennessee ahead of Georgia game

College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings

1. Oregon (10-0)

2. Ohio State (8-1)

3. Texas (8-1)

4. Penn State (8-1)

5. Indiana (10-0)

6. BYU (9-0)

7. Tennessee (8-1)

8. Notre Dame (8-1)

9. Miami (9-1)

10. Alabama (7-2)

11. Ole Miss (8-2)

12. Georgia (7-2)

13. Boise State (8-1)

14. SMU (8-1)

15. Texas A&M (7-2)

16. Kansas State (7-2)

17. Colorado (7-2)

18. Washington State (8-1)

19. Louisville (6-3)

20. Clemson (7-2)

21. South Carolina (6-3)

22. LSU (6-3)

23. Missouri (7-2)

24. Army (9-0)

25. Tulane (8-2)

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: Tennessee football: Where Vols rank in second College Football Playoff poll