Losses on Saturday by Indiana, Alabama and Ole Miss moved Tennessee up to No. 8 in ESPN’s new projected College Football Playoff rankings. The projection had the Vols as the No. 9 seed in the 12-team bracket, making a return trip to No. 8 Georgia in the first round of the playoffs.

The other first-round matchups were No. 12 Arizona State at No. 5 Ohio State, No. 11 Indiana at No. 6 Penn State and No. 10 SMU at No. 7 Notre Dame. Oregon was ranked No. 1 and seeded first by ESPN’s HeatherDinich.
As long as Tennessee doesn’t lose at Vanderbilt on Saturday — and that’s hardly a guarantee — the Vols should be in the committee’s top 12 on Selection Day,” Dinich wrote, “now that Ole Miss played itself out.

ESPN keeps Alabama at No. 12 in playoff rankings despite third loss

The College Football Playoff selection committee will release its new rankings and bracket projection Tuesday night. The official bracket will be announced on December 8.

ESPN on Saturday night had Ohio State ranked No. 2 and seeded fifth. Texas was ranked No. 3 and seeded second as the presumed SEC champion. Miami was ranked No. 6 and seeded third as the projected ACC champ and Boise State was ranked No. 10 and seeded fourth as the projected Mountain West champs.

Alabama stayed in the top 12 at No. 12 in the ESPN rankings, but was bumped out of the bracket by Arizona State, which was ranked No. 17 but would be in the field as the projected Big 12 champion.

“Alabama needs help even if it is still in the top 12 on Tuesday night,” Dinich wrote, “because the Tide would be bumped out for the Big 12 champion in this scenario. Alabama needs to beat rival Auburn and hope there is more fallout above them.”

ESPN dropped Indiana to No. 11 in its rankings. Just outside the top 12 was No. 13 Ole Miss, No. 14 South Carolina, No. 15 Texas A&M and No. 16 Clemson. BYU dropped to No. 18 after its loss at Arizona State and Colorado dropped to No. 20 after its loss at Kansas.

Tennessee at Vanderbilt, Saturday, Noon ET, ABC

Tennessee (8-2, 5-2 SEC) beat UTEP 56-0 on Senior Day at Neyland Stadium Saturday afternoon and now goes to Vanderbilt (6-5, 3-4) this week in the regular-season finale.

Indiana lost 38-15 at Ohio State, Ole Miss lost 24-17 at Florida and Alabama lost 24-3 at Oklahoma. Texas A&M also lost at Auburn for its second SEC loss.

The Tennessee-Georgia winner in the ESPN projection would advance to face No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

Georgia can play its way out of the first round by winning the SEC Championship game. Georgia has clinched a spot in Atlanta and will face the winner of Saturday’s game between Texas and Texas A&M.

“The Vols got some help on Saturday,” Dinich wrote. “With Ole Miss and Indiana both losing, Tennessee should move up by default — not because it hammered UTEP 56-0.

“The head-to-head loss to Georgia will keep them behind the Bulldogs, which makes putting them ahead of Alabama difficult for the committee in spite of the win against the Tide.”

Tennessee players react to blowout win over UTEP

Tennessee blew out UTEP on Saturday afternoon. The Vols started slow but ran away from the Miners in the home finale on senior day. After the game, select Vols met the media to discuss the win.

Tennessee’s defense got after the Miners with double digit tackles for loss. The defense was simply smothering.

After a slow start, Tennessee finally got on the board with a nine-play, 68-yard touchdown drive early in the second quarter, capped by a 14-yard Dylan Sampson touchdown run. The Vols had 37 total yards and three empty possessions during a scoreless first quarter. Sampson’s touchdown run gave him two more Tennessee single-season records, with 22 touchdowns on the season and 132 total points. Sampson only carried it 11 times on the game.

The game marked the final game for 25 Vol seniors and it was an emotional end to their careers at home.

Nico Iamaleava finished 17 of 23 for 209 yards and four touchdowns.