The door might have cracked open a tad on Saturday for Tennessee Vol fans who still dare to dream of the College Football Playoff

The Tennessee Volunteers' playoff chances appeared dead right after Halloween with a 33-27 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners in Knoxville. But, like any great horror villain, one has to ask afterwards: Are they really dead?

Perhaps not completely after Saturday. Tennessee debuted in the initial College Football Rankings at No. 25. While they were the only three-loss team on the list, it seemed like too steep a mountain to climb in the month's final season.

However, a slew of teams fell ahead of them, and the Vols, who got a week off to rest and heal, should be moving up as a result.

Several teams ahead of Tennessee lost on Saturday, and more have challenging games to come

No. 23 Washington, No. 22 Missouri, and No. 20 Iowa lost on Saturday. The Huskies suffered the worst defeat, falling to six-loss Wisconsin 13-10. No. 14 Virginia and No. 15 Louisville picked up their second losses of the season, both falling at home to Wake Forest and California, respectively.

Both are significant losses, and the committee has already shown that it seriously undervalues the ACC, so both teams should drop substantially. BYU picked up its first loss and could be in position to plummet with a second one.

There's still a ton of room for Tennessee to move up to get in range of true at-large consideration by the committee. But there had to be a start, and that's about as good a one as there could have been for the Vols this weekend.

Tennessee's primary nemesis remains Oklahoma. They need to lose probably two more games and finish 8-4 since it has the head-to-head win over the Vols. But that could happen, as the Sooners go to Tuscaloosa next weekend and finish with Missouri and LSU at home. A 1-2 stretch there, and they'd fall below a 9-3 Tennessee team.

Texas also needs to lose one, and possibly two games, but that could happen as the Longhorns go to Athens next weekend to face Georgia and also have Texas A&M to finish the year. The Big 12 also might need to cannibalize itself to drop some teams to three losses by the end of the season, among BYU, Texas Tech, and Utah.

And Tennessee still lacks a quality win this season, but, of all things, Vanderbilt might have set itself up for the Vols to have a chance to get that at the end of the season. The Commodores survived 45-38 in overtime against Auburn and now have a week off before facing Kentucky ahead of a trip to Knoxville.

Of course, Tennessee has to take care of business itself, most notably on Nov. 22 at Florida, which got its doors blown off at Kentucky on Saturday, 38-7, to fall to 3-7 on the season. But we all know that Tennessee never plays its best against any Gators team and surely not in Gainesville, so the records don't matter.

For those who aren't too afraid to get hurt, there's reason to dare to dream with three weeks left in the regular season. But one more stumble will drive a stake through the heart of the Vols' playoff hopes for good in 2025.

This story was originally reported by A to Z Sports on Nov 9, 2025, where it first appeared in the Nashville section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.