Josh Heupel makes Tennessee’s case for the College Football Playoff

Josh Heupel don’t know where Tennessee stands in the College Football Playoff picture after the 31-17 loss to Georgia Saturday night at Sanford Stadium. All he knows is what the Vols have been through.

“I have no idea, man,” Heupel said during his postgame press conference. “All I know is this league is college football as good as it gets. It is. Teams get beat on the road sometimes. It’s hard to win, man, in this league.”

Tennessee (8-2, 5-2 SEC) lost 19-14 at Arkansas on Oct. 5, but rebounded with four straight home wins — Florida, Alabama, Kentucky and Mississippi State — before the loss at Georgia (8-2, 5) -2).

“That’s a good football team that we just played,” Heupel said of Georgia. “(They’ve) lost a couple close ones on the road against good football teams. Had turnovers in (those) games. (Georgia is) a good football team. We’re a good football team, too.”

Tennessee hosts UTEP on Saturday (1 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network+) on Senior Day at Neyland Stadium and then heads to Vanderbilt on Nov. 30 to close out the regular season schedule.

“Let it sink in,” Heupel said of the Georgia loss. “Let it hurt. See it. Grow from it. Get another opportunity. You’re guaranteed two more, but the only one that matters is next week. So this group will keep going.

“We don’t control what we don’t control. We control our preparation. We can control how we get ready to play next Saturday. Got a good football team in that locker room, man. That’s a good football team. Gotta train a little better .We have to play a little better.”

Tennessee was ranked No. 7 by the College Football Playoff selection committee in the updated rankings released Tuesday night. The Vols were seeded eighth in the 12-team bracket.

That was the same spot Tennessee was ranked in the first release a week earlier. The Vols were jumped in the second ranking by Indiana and BYU.

ESPN’s Heather Dinich ranked Tennessee No. 11 Saturday night in her playoff rankings. However, the Vols were on the outside looking into the bracket, with Boise State seeded ahead of them as the highest-ranked projected conference champion from the Group of Five.

Georgia was the first team off the stretch Tuesday, following a 28-10 loss on the road at Ole Miss last week. ESPN had Georgia at No. 10 in the projected rankings Saturday night.

Smart described the rankings as a week-by-week eye test for the selection committee. He also echoed what Heupel said — it’s hard to win games in the SEC.

“We’re trying to be that cumulative, whole team of really good quality,” he said, “and not be on this emotional rollercoaster that’s managed by people in a room somewhere who maybe don’t understand football the way we do as coaches . We as coaches look at people and say, what can we do better? I respect their decision, but it’s different in our league.”