Tennessee's loss to Georgia crushed the Volunteers in the College Football Playoff rankings

To steal a term from the south, it's not that long ago that the Tennessee Volunteers were riding high on the hog.

After a disappointing and demoralizing loss to Georgia, though, the Vols have gone from the belle of the College Football Playoff ball to on the outside looking in.

They're searching for a glass slipper and may not be able to find it again.

Tennessee entered the massive clash in Athens against UGA with a brand spanking new and shiny No. 1 hanging around its neck. The Volunteers were an undefeated 8-0 with wins over No. 17 Pitt, No. 20 Florida, No. 25 LSU, No. 3 Alabama, and No. 19 Kentucky.

The Vols were the talk of the town and had plenty of big games under their belt going into the matchup against No. 3 Georgia, the reining CFP champions. 

It was billed to be a statement game for Tennessee, with a win proving that the Vols were (for real) for real and no longer a program living of glories far in the past. Rather, a win would have proved that Josh Heupel's team could be a legitimate National Championship contender.

Instead, the night ended in disaster. The Vols went between the hedges and got their teeth kicked in, losing to Georgia, 27-13.

Kirby Smart's Bulldogs proved to be a more than willing defending champion and Tennessee was flung back down to earth. Unfortunately, for Tennessee, the Vols predicably suffered in the most recent rendition of the College Football Playoff rankings as well.

Tennessee has fallen from No. 1 all the way to No. 5, which means that if the CFP was played today, the Vols wouldn't be in one of the two semifinal games. 

The Bulldogs moved up from No. 3 to No. 1, Ohio State stayed true at No. 2 and both undefeated Michigan and TCU worked themselves into slots No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.

With the Volunteers now looking up at UGA both in the CFP rankings and in the SEC East, Tennessee's big chance at making a run at the CFP could very well have come and gone.