ESPN details Tennessee Vols' odds of reaching the magic number of wins it'll likely take to reach College Football Playoff in 2025

ESPN's updated SP+ rankings have the Tennessee Vols as the No. 13 team in college football ahead of the 2025 season. 

There are five SEC teams ranked ahead of Tennessee in the SP+ rankings: Alabama (2), Georgia (4), Texas (5), LSU (9), and Ole Miss (11). 

Florida is right behind at Tennessee at No. 14.

Based on last season's results, the assumption is that an SEC team needs to go 10-2 during the regular season to reach the College Football Playoff. 

ESPN's SP+ rankings predict that Tennessee has a 33 percent chance of reaching 10 wins, which is the fifth best odds in the SEC and the 24th best odds in FBS. 

Interestingly, ESPN's SP+ rankings give the Vols a better chance of reaching 10 wins than LSU. That's likely because LSU has the ninth hardest schedule in college football while Tennessee has the 24th hardest schedule. 

Tennessee's path to the playoff this season is fairly straightforward -- take care of business in the games they should win and then win one out of three games against Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. 

The Vols get Georgia at home this season while they'll play Florida and Alabama on the road (Tennessee hasn't won in Gainesville or Tuscaloosa since 2003). 

It won't be easy, but the Vols' path to the playoff is doable. But they can't have a misstep like they did against Arkansas last season. If Tennessee drops a game at home against Oklahoma or on the road against Kentucky, for example, it'll mean they'll have to win two out of three against Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. And that's not quite as doable for a UT team that will be dealing with a lot of roster turnover this fall.