Tennessee Football is the second-best undefeated team left in the country, according to ESPN’s Bill Connelly. Only Texas was ranked ahead of the Vols among the 43 teams that have yet to lose through Week 3, while Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia were ranked No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.

“I always talk about how it’s how you play that matters, not whom,” Connelly wrote. 

Tennessee’s schedule hasn’t impressed so far, ranked 102nd in ESPN’s SP+ metric. But the Vols themselves have impressed in a 69-3 win over Chattanooga, a 51-10 neutral-site win over North Carolina State and a 71-0 win over Kent State last week.

“If you’re treating bad opponents like high school teams,” Connelly wrote, “that probably means something. And with a combined scoring margin of 191-13 so far, the Vols have treated three opponents, including NC State, like high school teams.”

Up Next: No. 6 Tennessee at No. 15 Oklahoma

The challenge will be much tougher this week, when No. 6 Tennessee (3-0) goes to No. 15 Oklahoma (3-0), starting SEC play in primetime Saturday night (7:30 Eastern Time, ABC) at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. 

Oklahoma came in at No. 21 in Connelly’s ranking of the remaining unbeaten teams. The Sooner blew out Temple on August 30, 51-3, but had to hold on late to beat both Houston (16-12) and Tulane (34-19) while starting the season with three straight home games. 

“It’s looking like Oklahoma might have its best defense in more than a decade,” Connelly wrote. “But the offense ranks just 116th in yards per play and 117th in success rate and hasn’t played a good defense yet. That’s troublesome.”

Tennessee is ranked No. 4 in ESPN’s Football Power Index and sixth in the SP+. 

The FPI gives Tennessee a 72.1% chance to make the new 12-team College Football Playoff field and a 12.7% chance to win the SEC. It gives the Vols just a 5.8% chance to win out.

ESPN predictions split on Tennessee as a College Football Playoff team

ESPN’s playoff predictions are split on Tennessee, though. 

ESPN’s Heather Dinich has the Vols, alongside Oklahoma, in the ‘First Four Out’ category. But ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach both have Tennessee hosting a first-round playoff game as a No. 7 seed and also advancing to the quarterfinals, where the Vols would face No. 2 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl in their updated projections. 

ESPN’s Playoff Predictor gives the Vols a 73% chance to make the playoffs. The SP+ also projected Tennessee as a No. 7 seed, hosting No. 10 Missouri in the first round.

Tennessee was the first team out of the field in the updated bracket from Dinich, who noted that Northern Illinois bumped the Vols out of the field as the highest-ranked conference champion from the Group of 5.

“The Vols have looked the part of a playoff team,” Dinich wrote, “and if they have another complete performance this week at Oklahoma, which will be their first real test of the season, they’ll move up.”

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