Could Tennessee football return to play Georgia in Athens in the playoffs?

A month removed from playing Georgia in Athens, could Tennessee football be returning to its former SEC East rivals’ home stadium for a play off game.

In ESPN’s Heather Dinich’s projected College Football Playoff rankings heading into the final week of the regular season, she has exactly this happening.

With the playoff game being played on either Dec. 20 or 21, it would be just days more than a month removed from the Vols falling to the Bulldogs 31-17 on the road.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Dinich has this as the 8-seed and 9-seed game. With Georgia as the 8-seed, it opens the door for it to host a playoff game.

Unlike the NCAA Tournament in men’s and women’s basketball, there are no restrictions on teams in the same conference playing each other in the first game of the playoffs.

The last time the teams met, Tennessee took a 10-0 lead after one quarter of play. From there, Georgia outscored the Vols 31-7 without giving up a single second half point.

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava threw for 167 yards on 20-for-33 passing with no touchdowns or interceptions. His favorite target proved to be Squirrel White who caught six passes for 45 yards. Miles Kitselman also caught four passes for 46 yards.

On the ground, Dylan Sampson ran for 101 yards and a touchdown. Kitselman also ran for a score.

Georgia was led by Carson Beck who completed 25-of-40 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns.

Here is her full slate for the projected playoffs in this scenario:

First-Round Byes

1-seed Oregon (Big Ten champion)

2-seed Texas (SEC champion)

3-seed Miami (ACC champion)

4-seed Boise State (Mountain West champion)

First-Round Games

12-seed Arizona State (Big 12 champion) at 5-seed Ohio State

11-seed Indiana at 6-seed Penn State

10-seed SMU at 7-seed Notre Dame

9-seed Tennessee at 8-seed Georgia

With this seeding, it would place the winner between Tennessee and Georgia against top-seed Oregon.

ESPN had two other projections for the Vols, as well.

Kyle Bonagura projects 10-seed Tennessee to travel to 7-seed Penn State.

Mark Schlabach projects 9-seed Tennessee to travel to 8-seed Texas.