🏈 Tennessee's playoff destination

Hello. This is the Josh and Swain Newsletter, a quick roundup of the week’s top stories and topics involving Tennessee and the sports world.

Here’s what we have for you today:

• Tennessee’s most likely first-round matchups and who to root for this weekend

• Closing out the signing period with Tennessee landing its biggest target

• Tennessee basketball stays hot as the Vols are set to climb to No. 1

• Danny White has a familiar idea for choosing the CFB Playoff teams

TENNESSEE’S TRAVEL PLANS

Here’s one thing we know: Tennessee is in the College Football Playoff.

What we don’t know: where Tennessee will play its first-round game.

The updated playoff ranking on Tuesday left Tennessee behind Ohio State, despite the Buckeyes’ home loss to Michigan on Saturday.

While disappointing for Tennessee fans, the news wasn’t a total surprise.

Ohio State has two wins against teams currently ranked in the top 10, and the Buckeyes top UT in several metrics, including strength of record and strength of schedule.

The projected bracket has Tennessee playing at Ohio State in the 8/9 matchup in the first round.

But will that be the case after this weekend’s conference championship games?

The Big Ten title game might have the biggest effect on Tennessee’s first round game.

If Oregon beats Penn State, the Nittany Lions could fall behind Ohio State, which won AT Penn State earlier this season.

ESPN’s Chris Low told us on Josh and Swain he believes there’s a good chance Penn State could fall behind Ohio State with a loss this weekend.

“For Tennessee, when you just look at from a purely football standpoint, that’s probably a better matchup for Tennessee than Ohio State,” Low said.

So Tennessee fans are probably pulling for Oregon to beat Penn State… and if possible, for Oregon to win by a lot.

While it’s unlikely Tennessee will host a first-round game after seeing the latest rankings, it’s not impossible.

Here’s what Heather Dinich of ESPN wrote this week regarding the Big Ten title game and the potential impact on Tennessee’s final playoff ranking:

There’s also the possibility that Penn State upsets Oregon.

If that happens, Penn State will get the first-round bye and Oregon will host in the first round.

That would likely send Tennessee to Columbus to play Ohio State.

What about the SEC title game?

If Georgia loses, could it fall behind Tennessee with a third loss on the season?

That’s possible, but again unlikely.

While Georgia would have one more loss than Tennessee, Georgia would have the head-to-head win over the Vols.

Dropping Georgia below Tennessee would reward the Vols… for not making the SEC championship game.

But what if Georgia gets blown out?

Well, let’s see if that happens…

That leaves us with two most likely first-round scenarios for Tennessee:

• No. 9 seed Tennessee playing at No. 8 seed Ohio State
• No. 9 seed Tennessee playing at No. 8 seed Penn State

Which matchup would you prefer? (Or are you holding out hope for a Door No. 3 option?)

Check out our full conversation with Chris Low below as we discuss championship weekend and the CFB Playoff.

SANDERS SIGNS WITH THE VOLS

Breathe easy, Tennessee fans: David Sanders Jr. is a Vol.

The five-star offensive tackle from Charlotte, N.C., signed with Tennessee on Thursday.

While Tennessee had some concern following his visit to Ohio State two weeks ago, Sanders stuck with his commitment from the summer.

Sanders is an elite prospect; he’s ranked as the nation’s No. 1 offensive tackle in the On3 and 247Sports composite rankings.

“I think you’re looking at the left tackle of the future,” On3 director of scouting Charles Power told us in August.

Sanders will likely compete for the starting right tackle position next fall — with a chance to slide over to left tackle in the future.

Tennessee’s 2025 signing class ranks No. 10 in the nation by On3 and No. 11 in the 247Sports team ranking.

That’s good for 7th and 8th in the SEC — showing you how competitive recruiting is in the SEC.

Some other Tennessee recruiting notes from this week:

◼️ Tennessee added three players to the class this week.

Defensive lineman Isaiah Campbell, a former Clemson commit, chose Tennessee over North Carolina.

Campbell is a four-star prospect who helps strengthens UT’s D-line class — continuing the Vols’ strong run of recruiting up front on defense.

Defensive back Tim Merritt flipped from Miami to Tennessee, and linebacker Jaden Perlotte signed with Tennessee after being committed to Southern Cal.

◼️ Tennessee lost one defensive back (and maybe another)

Safety Lagonza “Shaedy” Hayward signed with Florida after being committed to Tennessee for several months.

“Florida has always been in the back of my mind,” Hayward told On3. “When they played Tennessee and went to overtime against them at Neyland Stadium, I was like, ‘Hold on.’”

Florida is also trying to lure away Tennessee commit Onis Konanbanny.

The four-star cornerback has been committed to Tennessee since August but hasn’t signed — prospects have until Friday to sign during the early period.

Let’s see if Tennessee stays in the mix with Konanbanny.

◼️ The transfer portal will be next

Tennessee will monitor the transfer portal to find players who can help next year’s roster.

Players have already started to announce they’ll enter the portal, which will officially open on Monday and stay open until Dec. 28.

Positions of need for Tennessee will include the offensive line, the interior defensive line and safety.

With the offensive line position, replace Cooper Mays will be a big talking point?

Austin Price said Thursday Tennessee will ask, Is freshman William Satterwhite ready to replace Mays next season?

Or will Tennessee find Mays’ replacement in the portal?

There’s a lot for Tennessee’s staff to consider while it also prepares for the playoff.

Check out our full conversation with Price, who discussed UT’s signing class and portal needs (and joined us before Sanders made his signing with the Vols official. Just FYI)

SPORTS NUGGETS

🏈 Here’s a good transfer portal tracker from 247Sports. There will be a lot of activity over the next few days.

🏈 Dan Wetzel wrote about the playoff arguments from college administrators while Jay Busbee looks at one of the biggest conference championship questions: what happens if Clemson beats SMU for the ACC title?

🏈 It’s been a wild college football season. That’s why this weekend features an appropriate slate of title-game matchups, writes Ryan McGee.

🏈 Here’s a surprise: Bill Belichick has reportedly talked to North Carolina about its head coaching vacancy.

🏀 Here is Gary Parrish’s college hoops rankings following a round of upsets earlier this week.

🏀 Chris Mannix wrote this profile on Adrian Wojnarowksi, who explained why he walked away as the top NBA reporter at ESPN.

🎧 VFL and Tennessee legend Al Wilson joined Thursday’s show for nearly 20 minutes. Wilson explained why he believes in Josh Heupel and Tennessee’s administration.

NO. 1 TENNESSEE

Tennessee has the No. 1 basketball team in the country.

That’s not official in the polls, but it should be on Monday when the pollsters cast their next round of votes.

The Vols currently rank No. 3 in both the Associated Press and Coaches Polls.

With Tennessee beating Syracuse 96-70 on Tuesday and No. 1 Kansas and No. 2 Auburn losing on Wednesday, expect Tennessee to be the next team up.

This follows the initial release of the NCAA’s NET rankings, which ranked Tennessee No. 1 in the country earlier this week.

Rick Barnes’ team is rolling to start the season.

The 8-0 Vols have beaten four power conference teams: Baylor, Louisville, Syracuse and Virginia and.

And none of those games were close — Tennessee won each game by at least 15 points.

The Vols’ average margin of victory through eight games: 26.75 points.

Tennessee will play two more power conference teams in the next eight days:
• vs Miami at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday
• at Illinois on Saturday, Dec. 14

Chaz Lanier has made an instant impact for Tennessee, having already scored 25-plus points in three games (all power-conference opponents).

Igor Milicic Jr. has provided Tennessee with a stretch power forward who can also rebound.

And the Vols appear to have real chemistry.

“If the guys don’t like each other off the court, it’s never going to click on the court,” Milicic said recently. “But we just like each other. That’s probably the biggest part of it.”

That’s a big deal.

Part of the credit goes to Rick Barnes and his coaching staff; they’ve maintained a healthy culture while adjusting to the new world of NIL payments and transfer portal movement.

And Tennessee’s veteran players have helped maintain that culture.

Last year, seniors Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi embraced transfer Dalton Knecht and encouraged him to take the scoring lead.

This year, Zakai Zeigler, Jahmai Mashack and Jordan Gainey have made room for Lanier and Milicic to do their thing on offense.

➡️ Here’s the reminder that it’s early.

Nothing is guaranteed with the team’s health.

And SEC play will offer the real challenge.

The league looks stronger than ever, and repeating last year’s SEC title will be difficult.

But Tennessee has the personnel to make it happen.

It’s good to be No. 1.

DANNY WHITE’S PLAYOFF PLAN

The new 12-team playoff format has created all kinds of conversation around college football.

More late-season games had an impact on the postseason than we’ve ever seen.

But the format of the playoff has created plenty of controversy.

What’s college football without some controversy, after all?

One of the issues has to do with the automatic bids and first-round byes.

The four highest-ranked conference champs receive the top four seeds in the playoff, giving each team a first-round bye.

Landing an automatic spot in the 12-team field is one thing; should they also jump higher ranked teams to receive first-round byes?

Seeing Boise State and SMU projected ahead of teams like Georgia, Ohio State and Tennessee has caused a lot of people to say, “No.”

There’s also the question of how teams should be selected for the playoff.

Should it be all up to a committee?

Tennessee athletic director Danny White joined SportsTalk with John and Vince earlier this week and offered an idea for helping choose the teams of the 12-team field.

A lot of people had the same reaction: that sounds like the BCS?

Yes, that’s what White had in mind.

He mentioned the BCS specifically.

“I don’t think there was anything wrong with the ranking system with the old BCS,” White said. “The problem with the old BCS was there was only two teams (that played for the national title).”

White said he likes that college football has expanded to a 12-team playoff — and that he’d like to see further expansion to 16 teams.

His main goal: to find more objectivity in the selection process.

Reasonable minds can agree or disagree (or find an in-between) with White’s idea.

A computer would not necessarily help Tennessee’s position this year, by the way.

The website BCSKnowHow has continued to rank teams using the old BCS format.

Tennessee ranks No. 8, one spot lower than the committee’s ranking, with SMU ranked ahead of the Vols.

The BCS format would also have Alabama No. 11, exactly where the committee ranks the Crimson Tide.

That doesn’t mean White’s idea is wrong; plenty of people share his opinion.

One thing we can’t deny: this conversation is far from over.

And more change to the postseason format is sure to come at some point.

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