Are the Tennessee Volunteers out of the college football playoff race?

The Tennessee Volunteers earned their second loss of the season this weekend as the Georgia Bulldogs defeated them by a final score of 31-17. Tennessee jumped out to an early 10-0 lead in the first half, but it was all Georgia for the remainder of the game. The Volunteers would fail to score a single point in the second half.

That now puts Tennessee in the two-loss club in the SEC, which is getting lengthier by the weekend it seems. That also means they are no longer in as good of a position to make the playoffs this year and will be at the mercy of the committee at the end of the regular season to see if they made the top-12. So was Tennessee’s loss to Georgia enough to keep them out of the race?

The short answer is no. Tennessee certainly still has a chance to make the college football playoff this season, but fans are probably going to have to hold their breath. Because with there being so many two-loss SEC teams this season, someone is going to have to be left out of the mix.

Georgia is one of these teams. They have multiple wins over ranked opponents and their only two losses on the season came on the road against ranked opponents. Alabama has a loss to Vanderbilt and Tennessee but wins against Georgia, LSU and South Carolina. Ole Miss has losses to Kentucky and LSU but has wins against Georgia and South Carolina. Tennessee has losses to Arkansas and Georgia but has a win against Alabama.

And that’s the potential problem for Tennessee. They have one signature win on the schedule thus far. The rest of it is teams like NC State, Mississippi State, Kentucky and Oklahoma. Teams that have struggled a lot this season. The win against Florida certainly looks better as the season progresses, but when their schedule gets matched up against the rest of the SEC, it might cause some concerns from the committee. However, the win against Alabama could very well earn them a spot in the top-12.

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After Tennessee fans shook off their disappointment from a loss to Georgia, they realized that a College Football Playoff bid is still within reach.

But the Vols (8-2) will need to beat UTEP (2-8) on Saturday (1 p.m. ET, SEC Network+) and Vanderbilt (6-4) on Nov. 30. And then they’ll need help from other teams.

The updated College Football Playoff rankings will be released on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Tennessee will be a bubble team and clustered along with several others for one of the final spots. So UT fans will have a rooting interest in other games.

Here are seven ways the Vols could make it into the 12-team playoff.

Ole Miss loses to Florida

Ole Miss (8-2), Georgia (8-2), Alabama (8-2) and Tennessee have the same record and a head-to-head win against another team in the foursome. So any loss by a team in this group helps the others.

Ole Miss plays Florida (5-5) at The Swamp on Saturday (noon ET, ABC). The Rebels are favored. But the Gators are rejuvenated after beating LSU behind dynamic freshman quarterback DJ Lagway.

UT fans should root for Lane Kiffin to lose. That shouldn’t be hard.

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Ohio State blows out Indiana

Indiana (10-0) plays at Ohio State (9-1) on Saturday (noon ET, FOX). Tennessee could benefit from a blowout by either team. But an Ohio State win by a wide margin seems more likely.

Indiana is undefeated, but it has a weak schedule and no Top 25 wins.

If the Hoosiers lose to Ohio State in a blowout, it would feed skepticism about their legitimacy and perhaps push them out of the bracket.

UT fans should root for Ohio State to rout Indiana.

Notre Dame loses to Army or USC

If Notre Dame (9-1) wins out, it will make the field. But considering it already has an ugly loss to Northern Illinois, another defeat likely would bury the Irish.

Notre Dame plays undefeated Army (9-0) on Saturday (7 p.m. ET, NBC) and then Southern Cal (5-5) on Nov. 30.

UT fans should practice patriotism and root for Army to win.

Texas-Texas A&M winner loses SEC title game

Texas (9-1) plays at Texas A&M (8-2) on Nov. 30. If both avoid an upset this week (against Kentucky and Auburn, respectively), the winner of their Lone Star State showdown would advance to the SEC title game.

Suppose Texas A&M beats Texas but loses the SEC title game for its third loss. There would be a good debate between the Aggies and Vols based on résumé.

Suppose Texas beats Texas A&M but loses the SEC title game for its second loss. Texas doesn’t have a Top 25 win, so its résumé may be weaker than Tennessee’s in that scenario.

There’s a solid chance that Alabama advances to the SEC championship game based on a series of tiebreakers. If Alabama wins the SEC title, the Vols would own a victory over the conference champion, strengthening their résumé.

UT fans should root against a Texas school in the SEC title game to create chaos.

Penn State loses to Minnesota or Maryland

Penn State has a strong ranking but a weak schedule. And it lost 20-13 to Ohio State in its only game against a Top 25 opponent.

So another loss would drop Penn State precipitously.

The Nittany Lions play at Minnesota (6-4) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS) and against Maryland (4-6) on Nov. 30.

UT fans should root for Penn State to lose either game.

Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss lose rivalry games

On Nov. 29, Ole Miss plays Mississippi State (2-8) in the Egg Bowl, and Georgia plays Georgia Tech (6-4) in the “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate” rivalry game. On Nov. 30, Alabama plays Auburn (4-6) in the Iron Bowl.

If any of the favorites loses its rivalry game, Tennessee would jump ahead of it. However, all three will be playing at home, making those upsets unlikely.

Nevertheless, UT should root for upsets in those rivalry games.

Tennessee is still in the field

Don’t assume that Tennessee will be outside the bracket when it’s released on Tuesday.

Most media projections list the Vols as the first team out, but a few others have them making the field — barely.

That disagreement is a good reminder that these rankings are subjective. Any of these scenarios could put the Vols back in the bracket, but they still might be in it with no assistance needed.

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 at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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Georgia’s win over Tennessee on Saturday was further proof of how even the league is at the top of the conference. The Bulldogs have wins over the Vols and Texas, but lost to Ole Miss and Alabama. The Rebels lost to LSU and Kentucky. Alabama has losses to Vanderbilt and Tennessee.

At the very least, Missouri and LSU took themselves out of playoff consideration on Saturday with their losses. The Tigers from Columbia lost 34-30 after they gave up a late TD drive to South Carolina and LSU lost 27-16 at Florida.

Assuming South Carolina is also out of playoff contention with three losses, there are six SEC teams in the mix for the College Football Playoff. And deciphering how the committee will rank those teams feels like something out of an advanced-level calculus class.

Here’s our best guess as to how the playoff bracket will look on Tuesday. We think the committee could surprise us with Boise State and BYU.

First-round byes

1. Oregon (11-0, projected Big Ten champion)

The Ducks shouldn’t move off the top spot despite a close shave against Wisconsin. Dan Lanning’s decision to go for a fake field goal late in the game would have been the most second-guessed decision of the season had Wisconsin won the game. Instead, Matayo Uiagalelei sealed the game with an interception and the Ducks head into a bye in Week 13.

2. Texas (9-1, projected SEC champion)

The Longhorns got a brief second-half scare from Arkansas but made that a short-lived experience with a clutch touchdown drive. Texas’ downfield passing game needs to get sorted out, however. Quinn Ewers was 20-of-32 against the Razorbacks but threw for just 176 yards. The Longhorns host Kentucky in Week 13.

3. Miami (9-1, projected ACC champion)

Miami was off on Saturday and should move up a couple spots in the rankings thanks to losses by Tennessee and BYU. The Hurricanes are in great shape to make the ACC title game with two more wins. They hold the tiebreaker over Clemson thanks to a win over Louisville.

4. Boise State (9-1, projected Mountain West champion)

Yes, the Broncos could find themselves in the top four on Tuesday. We’re not sure what the committee was doing last week when BYU moved up three spots after a 22-21 win at Utah. It wasn’t a convincing win, and it was clear from the first set of rankings that the committee wasn’t sold on the Cougars. Given that initial ranking, we think BYU will get dropped below Boise State after it lost at home to Kansas.

First-round matchups

No. 12 BYU (9-1, projected Big 12 champion) at No. 5 Ohio State (9-1, at-large)

Similar to Georgia after Week 12, this could only be a temporary demotion for the Cougars. A win at Arizona State in Week 13 could boost them back up above Boise State. But a loss could be devastating and drop the Cougars out of the Big 12 title game entirely. Ohio State started slowly but scored 21 points in the second quarter to put Northwestern away at Wrigley Field on Saturday. The Buckeyes should stay at No. 2 in the rankings.

No. 11 Georgia (8-2, at-large) at No. 6 Penn State (9-1, at-large)

Welcome back to the playoff field, Georgia. Our line of thinking in the SEC goes like this: The Bulldogs should be ahead of Tennessee because of Saturday’s win and Ole Miss should be ahead of Georgia because of its win in Week 12. And by that logic, you can’t put Alabama ahead of Georgia either. Like Oregon and Ohio State before it, Penn State got a blowout win against Purdue on Saturday.

No. 10 Ole Miss (8-2, at-large) at No. 7 Indiana (10-0, at-large)

Both teams were off on Saturday. Ole Miss moves up a spot thanks to Tennessee’s loss and we’d be surprised if Indiana wasn’t the No. 5 team once again in the rankings. The Hoosiers head to Columbus in Week 13 for the marquee game of the day. A win puts Indiana in the Big Ten title game against Oregon. A loss means the Hoosiers need Michigan to beat the Buckeyes in the final week of the season to have a shot at the conference title.

No. 9 Alabama (8-2, at-large) at No. 8 Notre Dame (9-1, at-large)

Yes, we’re fully aware that our SEC rankings logic above ignored Tennessee’s win over Alabama. However, we think there will be some recency bias at play with the committee. And that could be devastating for the Vols. Tennessee has games against UTEP and Vanderbilt remaining. A 10-2 season may not be good enough for the playoff if Alabama, Ole Miss and Georgia all finish with that same record and the Crimson Tide sneak into the SEC title game.

Alabama had an easy win over FCS opponent Mercer on Saturday, while Notre Dame made quick work of Virginia. The Fighting Irish play undefeated Army in Week 13.