KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Following the second 10-win regular season in three years under head coach Josh Heupel, the seventh-ranked Tennessee Volunteers have officially punched their ticket to their first College Football Playoff.
The ninth-seeded Volunteers will travel to take on eighth-seeded Ohio State at 8 p.m. ET in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday, Dec. 21 from Ohio Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPN and ABC.
The first-round winner advances to take on top-seeded Oregon, the Big Ten champion, in the Rose Bowl Game on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, California. The CFP quarterfinal kicks off at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Tennessee (10-2, 6-2 SEC) and Ohio State (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) will meet for just the second time. The two teams faced each other in the 1996 Citrus Bowl, as MVP Jay Graham rushed for 154 yards, and Peyton Manning completed 20-of-35 passes and a touchdown to lift the Volunteers to a 20-14 win. It will be Tennessee’s first game in the state of Ohio.
Ohio State finished fourth in the Big Ten this season with key victories over playoff participants Penn State and Indiana. The matchup will feature a battle of two of the top five total and scoring defenses in the country. The Buckeyes are first in the FBS, allowing only 10.9 points per game and 241.1 yards per contest. Meanwhile, Tennessee is fourth in the nation, issuing 13.9 points per game and fifth in the FBS allowing 278.3 yards per contest.
Ranked No. 7, Tennessee earned the No. 9 seed since Group of Five automatic bid Boise State and Big 12 champion Arizona State received the Nos. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively. The Vols were one of three SEC teams to earn CFP berths, joining SEC champion No. 2 seed Georgia and No. 5 seed Texas.
Tennessee leaned on the SEC’s top rushing attack, which put up 232.0 yards per game led by the spectacular play of junior running back Dylan Sampson. Sampson, USA Today Network’s SEC Player of the Year, shattered five school single-season records, rushing for 1,485 yards on 256 carries and 22 touchdowns.
The Vols held 10 of their 12 opponents under 20 points thanks to a stifling defense that limited seven of their eight Power Four opponents under their season scoring average.
The College Football Playoff berth is another significant accomplishment for Heupel’s Vols, who were 3-7 a year prior to his arrival. Four years into his tenure, Tennessee has won 37 games and 30 games since 2022, which is the fourth-most in the SEC during that span. It’s the winningest three-year stretch for the program since claiming 30 victories from 1998-2000.
Preparations for the College Football Playoff are well underway. The Volunteers will practice next week, participate in graduation on Friday and then enter game week. All CFP first-round participants will treat the first round like a normal game week schedule and depart for their destination the day before the game.
2024 College Football Playoff First Round Schedule
all times Eastern
Friday, Dec. 20
(10) Indiana at (7) Notre Dame, 8 p.m., ESPN and ABC
Saturday, Dec. 21
(11) SMU at (6) Penn State, noon, TNT
(12) Clemson at (5) Texas, 4 p.m., TNT
(9) Tennessee at (8) Ohio State, 8 p.m., ESPN and ABC
