{"id":232010,"date":"2025-10-17T17:39:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T17:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/232010\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T17:39:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T17:39:07","slug":"heather-dinich-determines-playoff-implications-in-tennessee-vs-alabama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/232010\/","title":{"rendered":"Heather Dinich determines playoff implications in Tennessee vs. Alabama"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Third Saturday of October has arrived, and with it comes a top-dozen match of No. 11 Tennessee<\/a> vs. No. 6 Alabama<\/a> in Tuscaloosa. It also comes with a game that will have midseason implications for the College Football Playoff<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On \u2018Get Up\u2019<\/a> on Friday morning, ESPN\u2019s Heather Dinich discussed the impact of a win tomorrow, either way for the Volunteers or Crimson Tide, on the CFP. Dinich says a Vols win will have them in real consideration for the field, while a \u2018Bama win would put them into the discussion for a top-four seed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, if the Vols win? Then this would catapult them off the bubble and into the conversation,\u201d said Dinich.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, if Alabama wins, it\u2019s even bigger<\/a>,\u201d Dinich said. \u201cThe selection committee does not hesitate to put a one-loss team ahead of an undefeated team. This could be an opportunity for Alabama to move ahead of undefeated<\/a> Texas A&M<\/a> in the rankings. And, you know what that means? That means a top-four seed and a first-round bye.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Saturday\u2019s action last weekend, Dinich projected both teams would be right in the mix for a playoff spot. Her predictions<\/a> had Alabama at No. 5, making them the first of the at-larges, and Tennessee at No. 12<\/a>, which made them the first team out of the playoff. That has tomorrow\u2019s result as a significant one in the hopes for either, to be in or to position themselves within the field, for the CFP.<\/p>\n

This rivalry means a lot to both programs, but only one will be smoking cigars tomorrow night. Only one will be firmly in the playoff mix as well, with the loser\u2019s season being on the brink in becoming a two-loss team by mid-October.<\/p>\n

Jordan Rodgers determines key to game in Tennessee vs. Alabama<\/p>\n

In the same segment, Jordan Rodgers highlighted the risk vs. reward of Joey Aguilar<\/a> as the key to the matchup tomorrow in Tuscaloosa. He expects the Crimson Tide\u2019s offense to score more than enough, but the Volunteers\u2019 hope is to win in a shootout at Bryant-Denny Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe deciding factor for this is going to be the touchdown-to-interception ratio for Joey Aguilar<\/a>,\u201d said Rodgers. \u201cLook, the reality is this Tennessee defense stinks. Ty Simpson<\/a> is going to dice them up<\/a>. They\u2019re 124th in the country. Especially against the pass, they\u2019ve been really bad. So, Aguilar is going to have to score some points. Now, Tennessee is number one in the country (in scoring). They can do that. But, remember, last year, he led in interceptions. He\u2019s thrown five in his last four games. He\u2019s got to be explosive, he\u2019s got to be a gunslinger but he\u2019s got to protect the football against Alabama.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Third Saturday of October has arrived, and with it comes a top-dozen match of No. 11 Tennessee…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-232010","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}