ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit ranks Tennessee football No. 1 in his CFP ranking projection
ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit, calling the Tennessee-Kentucky game on Saturday night, made a change to the top of his College Football Playoff ranking projection.
Herbstreit moved Tennessee football ahead of Ohio State during the Vols' domination of Kentucky inside Neyland Stadium.
Ohio State piled on the points in the fourth quarter to turn a close game into a 44-31 victory at Penn State earlier Saturday. But Tennessee rolled Kentucky 44-6 ahead of next Saturday's monumental clash at Georgia.
Herbstreit ranked Ohio State at No. 2, Georgia at No. 3 and Michigan at No. 4, with Alabama and Clemson at Nos. 5 and 6. The College Football Playoff committee releases its first edition of their rankings on Tuesday.
"I just moved them up to No. 1 because you have to look at who they played," Herbstreit said on the game broadcast. "Teams who have been ranked gives them the edge. A slight change. They've won at LSU and they beat Alabama in consecutive weeks, (plus) what they're doing tonight against Kentucky. You have to recognize that."
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He has a point. With wins over Alabama, LSU and Kentucky, along with a road win at Pitt and a home win over Florida, Tennessee's deep resume stacks up against the rest of college football. The Vols have the highest scoring offense in the country, and the defense hounded Kentucky's Will Levis for three interceptions and a season-low in yards on Saturday.
Georgia and Ohio State both have a good win away from home (UGA vs. Oregon in Atlanta, OSU at Penn State on Saturday), but neither has the combination of resume and passing the eye test like the Vols have shown through two months of the season.
"The good thing is about Tennessee and Georgia, we're going to find out next week," Herbstreit said.
That it will. The Bulldogs host the Vols next Saturday in what will be a top-3 matchup regardless of what the CFP committee spits out next week. The winner looks to be in great position for the SEC East and a CFP spot in December, while the loser is hoping for losses by Clemson, Ohio State, Michigan and/or TCU to get back into contention for the top four.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit ranks Tennessee football No. 1 in his CFP rankings
