The final College Football Playoff rankings are out and we know the Tennessee football team is going to be heading to Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes on Dec. 21. This is going to be a huge showdown, one the Vols are already six-point underdogs for.
Despite the happiness for UT being in the CFP for the first time in program history, there are still plenty of upset fans over the fact that the Vols are going to be on the road instead of hosting. When Ohio State lost to Michigan not long ago, the decision seemed easy for Tennessee to make a jump.
Instead, the committee decided to double down on its decision to keep Ohio State ahead of Tennessee, setting up the first-round dance in Columbus. When Warde Manuel was asked to explain why Ohio State remained ahead of Tennessee, he said a whole bunch of nothing to defend the decision:
With the greatest of respect for the committee, sometimes we just don’t know what they’re doing. Tennessee was penalized for its two losses, but those came on the road to Arkansas and Georgia. Yes, Ohio State lost on the road to No. 1 Oregon, but there are no excuses for the home loss to Michican in the regular season finale.
Plenty of people were expecting Tennessee to finish as the No. 8 seed and host the No. 9 seed, but things were flipped there. Manuel did his best to make it seem like the committee put everything into consideration, but a lot of people are convinced they just prioritized getting a Big Ten side another home game.
It doesn’t matter for the Vols, though, as Josh Heupel said that his guys will be ready to play wherever and whenever. The temperatures in Ohio aren’t going to be a worry for the Vols either. Soon enough, these two teams will take the field and Tennessee will hope to post an upset, but fans just wish this game was going to be played at Neyland Stadium. Thanks to Manuel and Co., that’s not happening.
