CFP Fallout: Josh Heupel Faces Most Important Game At Tennessee, SOS Nonsense Gets Worse, Clemson Has A Path

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I hope you took the latest CFP rankings with a grain of salt on Tuesday night. While we all sat around and tried to decipher what college football playoff chairman Warde Manuel was talking about when it came to where some teams are ranked, we are still headed for another chaotic weekend, if history is any indication. 

As we sit here looking ahead to another critical slate of games, there are three things that stand out the most to me, based off the previous weeks. 

Coming off the CFP rankings on Tuesday night, it’s clear that there are some nervous coaches around the country, along with their athletic departments ready to cash-in. 

Biggest Moment Of Josh Heupel’s Tenure At Tennessee? 

I know this gets thrown out a lot, but it’s a valid question as we head into this weekend’s matchup between Tennessee and Vanderbilt, in Nashville.

 Is this the biggest game of Josh Heupel’s tenure at Tennessee? 

The obvious answer is that the recent Georgia game in Athens would take this honor, but now that Ole Miss and Alabama both lost last weekend and Tennessee jumped to No. 8 in this week’s CFP rankings, the pressure is on. 

Sure, you could look at certain games during his stretch as head coach and throw them into this category. The win over Alabama in 2022 and 2024 were massive, but nothing is bigger for the football program than Saturday’s game against the Commodores. 

Sorry if that seems a bit dramatic for folks, but it’s the truth. 

Win, and you’re in the college football playoff. Win, and one or two teams in front of you lose, you’re then hosting a game on-campus. Do you know the financial implications for having a game in Knoxville right before Christmas? I’d have to guess somewhere around $10 million, just off the game alone. This doesn’t include the merchandise, marketing, and opportunity to advance. 

But, obviously, this comes down to perception. If Vanderbilt were to upset the Vols on Saturday, ending its playoff run, it would take a very long time for Tennessee fans to get over that one. It’s one thing for a non-SEC team to end your season, it’s a whole different ball of wax if it’s the Commodores. Why? Perception. 

It could be any team standing in front of the Vols this weekend, and I would feel the same. But if Vanderbilt wrecks Tennessee’s hopes of playing for a national championship, it will be the longest off-season that Josh Heupel has endured, maybe since his own playing days. 

So, don’t screw this one up, Tennessee. Everything you want is right in front of you, with Diego Pavia standing in your way. 

We Learn Something New Each Week From CFP Chair Warde Manuel 

I guess I should thank CFP chair Warde Manuel for teaching me something new every single week during these ranking shows. Ok, I don’t mean that seriously, because it feels as though we are moving the goalposts every single week. 

Oh, and stop thinking that strength of schedule matters, because it that were the case, Penn State would not be ranked in the Top-4. Based off their biggest win against Illinois, I’m guessing the committee thinks this is good enough to be solidly in the playoff. What about the argument for Indiana? 

One week we are saying SOS doesn’t have enough bearing on the rankings. Then, the next week Warde Manuel is out here complimenting Indiana on its schedule after losing to Indiana, but trying to give us a reason why SMU is ranked higher. 

“Well, at this time I would just say the strength of schedule for Indiana improved greatly when they played Ohio State, but SMU just has been consistent in the last few weeks in terms of their performance and the committee as we looked at it ranked SMU ahead of Indiana.”

Hold on, and no offense to Indiana. But if your biggest win is against a 6-5 Washington team, after getting beat up by Ohio State last week, then why are we now discussing the strength of schedule? Oh, because it helps the argument to keep them ranked in the Top-12, and I have no problem with the Hoosiers being in the playoff. But I’m obviously tired of hearing Warde Manuel try to imply some type of reasoning behind his decisions, when they change weekly. 

“So we take the stance that we’re going to really look at these games, we’re going to look at the stats, we’re going to look at the strength of schedule, but we’re also going to look at how teams are performing against the competition that they have. From our perspective, if it was just about strength of schedule, we wouldn’t be needed. You could just take at the end of the season the top 12 teams with the highest strength of schedule and put them against each other.”

This is the same man who said on Tuesday night that going on the road to Wyoming is a tough place to play, when referring to Boise State. 

Please, just get on the same page before the final rankings are released. 

Clemson, South Carolina, Alabama, Ole Miss Peeking Through Window

Alright, I know some of you wanted to think that Alabama was out of the picture when it came to the college football playoff, but they aren’t done just yet. The Crimson Tide’ are the highest ranked three-loss team in the newest rankings released on Tuesday night, and Warde Manuel tried to explain why. 

“Because of their win over Georgia. They won against Missouri. They’ve beat South Carolina and they won at LSU in dominant fashion. When you put those four wins against Mississippi and what they did, they had the win against Georgia and the win at South Carolina, but they had a tough loss to Florida; lost to LSU in overtime. So when we compared resumes’ that’s how we saw it in terms of the difference between Alabama and Mississippi.”

Why in the world are we still referring to Missouri as some cornerstone wins this season, for anybody. Enough of this, please. 

But just because Alabama is sitting above those other three teams, doesn’t mean chaos could ensue next week. Whoever wins the South Carolina vs. Clemson game has a good chance at jumping both Ole Miss and Alabama. This could get very interesting, especially when you consider this is a No. 12 vs. No. 15 showdown. 

Could the Gamecocks jump their two SEC foes by beating the Tigers? Well, Warde Manuel likes to say that they rank these teams based off how they perform on the field, so let’s see how this actually plays out next week.