Tennessee ranked 17th in initial College Football Playoff rankings

It’s that time of year once again — the first batch of College Football Playoff rankings are out. The committee gave us our first look at their rankings on Tuesday night, placing Ohio State at the top of the board. Clearly, two big wins over Penn State and at Notre Dame meant quite a bit to the committee, which differs from the other two polls.

Georgia and Michigan check in at No. 2 and No. 3. Both will have their chance at big wins in the coming weeks.

Tennessee landed right around where you would expect. The Volunteers make their 2023 debut at No. 17, with plenty of runway left to make a big move up the board. It would take complete chaos for the Volunteers to get back into the top four discussion, but a move back into the top ten is at least possible.

The Volunteers will travel to Missouri and host Georgia (along with games against Vanderbilt and UConn) to close the year. The Tigers came in at No. 12 this week, while Georgia is ranked second. Those two teams will play each other this week in Athens for control of the SEC East.

2023 College Football Playoff Rankings (October 31st)

1. Ohio State
2. Georgia
3. Michigan
4. Florida State
5. Washington
6. Oregon
7. Texas
8. Alabama
9. Oklahoma
10. Ole Miss
11. Penn State
12. Missouri
13. Louisville
14. LSU
15. Notre Dame
16. Oregon State
17. Tennessee
18. Utah
19. UCLA
20. USC
21. Kansas
22. Oklahoma State
23. Kansas State
24. Tulane
25. Air Force