Will Tennessee be at No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff ranking?

With an offense that has arguably been the most dominant unit in football this season, it's difficult to suggest otherwise. On Saturday, they defeated No. 19 Kentucky 44-6. The No. 3 Volunteers racked up 422 yards of offense. 

Entering Saturday's game, they were averaging 50.1 points and 571.7 yards per game, both best in the country.

It's their defense that has allowed 19 points in games against No. 18 LSU (6-2, 4-1 in SEC) and Kentucky (5-3, 2-3 in SEC) that could ultimately put Tennessee over No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Ohio State. Against the Wildcats, the Volunteers' defense forced three interceptions from projected first-round NFL draft pick Will Levis. He finished with 98 yards on 27 attempts. Against the Tigers, they forced the one interception thrown by Jayden Daniels this season.

Tennessee (8-0, 4-0 in SEC) plays Georgia (8-0, 5-0 in SEC) on Saturday, so the debate will be settled soon. With the way the season is playing out, they could still make the playoff with a loss. No one has a better win this season than theirs against No. 6 Alabama — and a potential loss to a top-four Georgia team wouldn't be unforgivable.

A couple of years ago, a No. 1 ranking in the first CFP poll was a death sentence. From 2014-2019, no team No. 1 in the first poll went on to win the championship. Alabama (2020) and Georgia (2021) changed that narrative, and whichever team does land at No. 1 will have a chance to become the third team in a row to go on to win the national championship.

Rocky Top appears to be on top of the college football pecking order. No one has been able to stop them. We'll find out Tuesday if the playoff committee is the first.