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No. 6 Ohio State is very accustomed to the playoff stage, chasing another national championship since 2014 and first title game berth since 2020. Seventh-ranked Tennessee has its own championship pedigree even with its last national title in 1998. The Volunteers had been the butt of too many jokes for too many painful years since then. That officially ends Dec. 21 when Tennessee visits Ohio State in the first round of the newly expanded College Football Playoff with the winner traveling to the Rose Bowl to face top-ranked Oregon. Vols center Cooper Mays says this means they've gotten Tennessee back to where the program is supposed to be.
