Where Tennessee ranks in third College Football Playoff poll: See full list
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
Tennessee football moved up three spots to No. 20 in the third College Football Playoff poll of the 2025 season, released on Nov. 18.
The Vols are coming off a 42-9 win over New Mexico State, and they benefitted from losses by teams ranked ahead of them in the previous CFP poll.
The CFP selection committee ranked the Top 25 teams for the 12-team playoff format. The rankings will be updated each Tuesday, and the final CFP field will be announced on Dec. 7.
There are five guaranteed spots (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC champions, plus highest-ranked non P4 conference champion). And then seven teams get at-large bids, based on their ranking in the CFP poll.
Tennessee (7-3, 3-3 SEC) plays Florida (3-7, 2-5) on Nov. 22 (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) in Gainesville. Then the Vols play at home against Vanderbilt on Nov. 29 (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC or ESPN).
Tennessee is ranked No. 20 in the US LBM Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25, which were released on Nov. 16.
College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings
- Ohio State (10-0)
- Indiana (11-0)
- Texas A&M (10-0)
- Georgia (9-1)
- Texas Tech (10-1)
- Ole Miss (10-1)
- Oregon (9-1)
- Oklahoma (8-2)
- Notre Dame (8-2)
- Alabama (8-2)
- BYU (9-1)
- Utah (8-2)
- Miami (8-2)
- Vanderbilt (8-2)
- USC (8-2)
- Georgia Tech (9-1)
- Texas (7-3)
- Michigan (8-2)
- Virginia (9-2)
- Tennessee (7-3)
- Illinois (7-3)
- Missouri (7-3)
- Houston (8-2)
- Tulane (8-2)
- Arizona State (7-3)
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing atknoxnews.com/subscribe.
Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football: Where Vols rank in third College Football Playoff poll
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos