How Alabama vs. Tennessee will affect the College Football Playoff race
The matchup between Alabama and Tennessee already figured to be the biggest Third Saturday in October in some time, but now it could directly impact how the College Football Playoff will look later this year.
That's according to Football Power Index, the predictive computer model, which forecasts major change for both teams' playoff hopes in the event of a win, and a loss.
Where do things stand for the Crimson Tide and the Volunteers in the playoff chase coming out of this game?
What it means for Alabama
With a win over the Vols this Saturday, Alabama has a 88 percent chance to make the final four, compared to a 62 percent shot if it loses this game.
Losing this game doesn't doom the Tide as far as making the College Football Playoff goes. Winning out the rest of the season with one loss here, to a top 10 SEC rival, would still allow for Alabama to make the playoff.
That is, only if it doesn't lose again after that: no two-loss team has ever made the playoff, and there are still games against at least two ranked SEC West foes going forward.
Alabama's remaining schedule: vs. Mississippi State, at LSU, at Ole Miss, vs. Austin Peay, vs. Auburn
What it means for Tennessee
Tennessee has a lot more on the line this weekend, playoff-wise: it has the 48 percent chance to make the semifinal by defeating Alabama, compared to a 12 percent chance to make it with a loss to the Crimson Tide.
That narrower margin on both sides stems from the fact that the Vols still have to contend with SEC East favorite and current No. 1 Georgia later on this season.
FPI rates Tennessee's schedule as the 6th hardest nationally, which means there's an outside chance it could make the playoff with a loss to the Bulldogs despite not playing for the SEC championship.
That is, provided the Vols only have one slip-up at season's end, a "quality loss" to Alabama.
The path to the playoff for Big Orange is simple: just win, baby.
Tennessee's remaining schedule: vs. UT Martin, vs. Kentucky, at Georgia, vs. Missouri, at South Carolina, at Vanderbilt
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College football rankings
According to AP top 25 poll
1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. Alabama
4. Clemson
5. Michigan
6. Tennessee
7. USC
8. Oklahoma State
9. Ole Miss
10. Penn State
11. UCLA
12. Oregon
13. TCU
14. Wake Forest
15. NC State
16. Mississippi State
17. Kansas State
18. Syracuse
19. Kansas
20. Utah
21. Cincinnati
T-22. Kentucky
T-22. Texas
24. Illinois
25. James Madison
(FPI)