Why Kentucky football fans need to root for Tennessee to reach College Football Playoff
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Preview: Vanderbilt at Kentucky
Click below to read more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s preview coverage ahead of Saturday’s Kentucky-Vanderbilt football game scheduled for noon at Kroger Field in Lexington.
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Tuesday’s College Football Playoff committee ranking has put Kentucky football fans in an awkward position.
In order for the Wildcats to reach the best possible bowl game, Big Blue Nation needs to root for archrival Tennessee to be included in the four-team playoff.
After losing to No. 1 Georgia, Tennessee fell to No. 5 in the committee’s new top 25. The cascade effect in the SEC’s bowl selection process created by just one team from the league reaching the playoff would have implications for Kentucky, ranked 24th by the committee. The Volunteers remain the league’s best hope of a second team reaching the playoff as the only SEC school with one loss.
If the season ended today, the No. 5 ranking would make the Volunteers the SEC’s representative in the Sugar Bowl. No. 7 LSU would slot into the Orange Bowl.
With only one SEC team in the playoff, there is only room for three SEC teams in the New Year’s Six bowl games filled by the playoff committee. That means Alabama, despite being ranked ninth in the new top 25 would be left out of the New Year’s Six bowls.
The Citrus Bowl, which has first pick of SEC teams after the New Year’s Six bowls are filled, would choose between Alabama or No. 11 Ole Miss. The team the Citrus Bowl does not take would then fall into the SEC’s “Pool of Six” bowl tier where Kentucky is likely to be included.
The “Pool of Six” bowls (ReliaQuest, Gator, Texas, Music City, Las Vegas and Liberty) have the same weight in the SEC’s process, but the ReliaQuest Bowl (formerly known as the Outback Bowl) is generally the top target for teams in that tier due to its status as a Florida Bowl traditionally played on New Year’s Day. The SEC solicits feedback from schools and bowls to assign teams to games in the pool based on a number of criteria, including avoiding repeat trips and matchups in a short window.
An 8-4 Kentucky team that wins two of its final three regular season games against Vanderbilt, Georgia and Louisville would have a strong chance to play in the Tampa game. One of the SEC teams in contention for the New Year’s Six falling into the “Pool of Six” would complicate those hopes though.
If the Citrus Bowl were to pick Alabama over Ole Miss, an 8-4 Kentucky might still be the SEC’s representative in the ReliaQuest Bowl since Ole Miss last played there after the 2020 season. However, since Alabama played in the Citrus Bowl after the 2019 season, the Citrus Bowl might opt for Ole Miss, which has never played in the game, to bring a new set of fans to Orlando, even if Alabama is ranked a few spots ahead of the Rebels.
Of course, the season does not end today. Results over the final three weeks will determine if two SEC teams can reach the playoff.
No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan play each other in the regular season finale, so at least one is guaranteed a loss before the playoff field is set. No. 4 TCU plays at No. 18 Texas on Saturday. No. 6 Oregon would have a strong case for the playoff field if it wins out considering it still has games against No. 25 Washington and No. 13 Utah in the regular season and a Pac-12 title game matchup with No. 8 USC or No. 12 UCLA.
The final pecking order of SEC teams is also far from certain.
Georgia still has to play at Mississippi State and Kentucky. Tennessee has games against Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt remaining. LSU closes its SEC schedule with road games at Arkansas and Texas A&M. Alabama and Ole Miss play each other this weekend and close the regular season with rivalry games against Auburn and Mississippi State. Ole Miss must also play at Arkansas.
The only thing Kentucky can control is its own performance. That starts with taking care of business against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
Fans can afford to think of the hypothetical though. And the one that involves Kentucky’s clearest path to the ReliaQuest Bowl involves one of Big Blue Nation’s most hated foes reaching the playoff.
KENTUCKY FOOTBALL BOWL PROJECTIONS
ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): Gator Bowl vs. North Carolina State
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Music City Bowl vs. Minnesota
The Athletic (Stewart Mandel and Scott Dochterman): Music City Bowl vs. Wisconsin
USA Today (Erick Smith): Gator Bowl vs. North Carolina State
Athlon (Steve Lassan): ReliaQuest Bowl vs. Wisconsin
CBSSports (Jerry Palm): Music City Bowl vs. Wisconsin
The Sporting News (Bill Bender): Music City Bowl vs. Wisconsin
Action Network (Brett McMurphy): ReliaQuest Bowl vs. Notre Dame
Next game
Vanderbilt at Kentucky
When: Noon Saturday
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Vanderbilt 3-6 (0-5 SEC), Kentucky 6-3 (3-3)
Series: Kentucky leads 48-42-4.
Last meeting: Kentucky won 34-17 on Nov. 13, 2021, in Nashville.
College Football Playoff rankings
This week’s rankings, drawn Tuesday night:
1. Georgia (9-0)
2. Ohio State (9-0)
3. Michigan (9-0)
4. TCU (9-0)
5. Tennessee (8-1)
6. Oregon (8-1)
7. LSU (7-2)
8. Southern California (8-1)
9. Alabama (7-2)
10. Clemson (8-1)
11. Mississippi (8-1)
12. UCLA (8-1)
13. Utah (7-2)
14. Penn State (7-2)
15. North Carolina (8-1)
16. North Carolina State (7-2)
17. Tulane (8-1)
18. Texas (6-3)
19. Kansas State (6-3)
20. Notre Dame (6-3)
21. Illinois (7-2)
22. UCF (7-2)
23. Florida State (6-3)
24. Kentucky (6-3)
25. Washington (7-2)
This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 7:56 AM.
