The Tennessee Vols could be in line to host a College Football Playoff game later this month depending on how the committee ranks the top 12 teams in the sport after conference championship weekend.
Tennessee is currently ranked No. 6 in the AP Top 25 poll, one spot ahead of Ohio State.
If the committee follows the AP Top 25 rankings, Tennessee will host a playoff game.
Not everyone, however, thinks that would be the right decision.
On3’s Ari Wasserman, who spent 10 years covering Ohio State for The Athletic and Cleveland.com, tweeted on Sunday that “it’s not even a debate” that the Buckeyes should host a playoff game over the Vols.
The Athletic’s Chris Vannini followed up by saying “I don’t think it’s even close” between Ohio State and Tennessee.
First off, I don’t think there’s a surefire right answer here, though I think there are reasonable arguments for both sides (which is why it’s so annoying when college media members write things like “it’s not a debate” or the should-be-immediately-retired “it’s not even close”).
The idea that Ohio State’s resumé is “much better” than Tennessee’s is a stretch. Tennessee went 10-2 in a tougher conference while Ohio State’s resumé is propped up by beating a couple of highly ranked teams (Indiana and Penn State) that were never seriously challenged this season. Indiana’s best win was a home win against Michigan. Penn State’s best win was against Illinois. There are favorable schedules and then there are breezy schedules. Indiana and Penn State faced the latter.
Tennessee, meanwhile, didn’t just play an SEC schedule, but they were in emotional games nearly every week. You can’t tell me that Penn State playing UCLA, USC, or Washington compares to Tennessee playing emotional games against Oklahoma (Josh Heupel’s return to Norman), Florida (big rival for UT), Alabama (big rival for UT), Arkansas (several connections to UT, including a couple of former Vols who now play for the Razorbacks), Kentucky (big rival for UT), Mississippi State (Heupel’s former protege, Jeff Lebby, is the head coach), Georgia (big rival for UT), or Vanderbilt (big rival for UT). That’s a gauntlet of emotion.
Nearly every week the Vols were in an emotional battle. It’s something you can’t understand unless you pay close attention to a program on a weekly basis. Almost every team the Vols played had a special game plan to stop Tennessee’s offense — that kind of approach led to a heightened focus for UT’s opponents each week.
(Let’s not forget that Tennessee beat a Florida team that beat Ole Miss, they beat a Kentucky team that beat Ole Miss, they beat an Oklahoma team that beat Alabama, they beat a Vanderbilt team that beat Alabama and Auburn. And they beat an Alabama team that beat Georgia.)
But enough about the emotional burden of playing in the SEC on a weekly basis. The national media bros can’t understand that aspect of the SEC. They’re too busy pretending to care about late night west coast football games that are ripe with poor gameplay (you’re not a “sicko” if you’re falling asleep watching Houston and BYU turn the ball over seven times…you’re just boring).
The aspect of the Vols’ resumé that Wasserman is missing, and that the playoff committee must consider, is the fact that Tennessee was 7-0 at home this season. Home losses and road losses should be weighted much differently in the committee’s eyes. If we’re talking about awarding home playoff games, shouldn’t the teams that defended home field the best get to host a playoff game?
Both of Tennessee’s losses came on the road at night. It’s not like the Vols lost to Arkansas in front a raucous crowd at Neyland. Tennessee lost in an electric atmosphere on the road (UT was a play away from winning that game, too). Their other loss was against Georgia in Athens. I refuse to believe either of those losses are “bad” like the national media wants you to believe.
Ohio State, meanwhile, lost at home to Michigan as a 20 point favorite.
Home and road losses have to be viewed differently. They just have to be. We’ve heard nearly every coach in the nation talk this season about how tough it is to play on the road. Elite teams have to be penalized for losing at home — especially when they’re a three score favorite.
Tennessee earned the right to host a playoff game via their 7-0 record at home this season (the Vols have lost just one game at home, against Georgia, since the start of the 2022 season). Ohio State, on the other hand, can’t say the same.
If the committee doesn’t consider home losses as significantly worse than road losses, then the whole thing is invalid. There’s just simply no way that there can be any other stance by the committee.