KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee football is about to embark on its first-ever college football playoff experience on Saturday night when the Vols square off against Ohio State in Columbus.
Legendary Tennessee football head coach Phillip Fulmer wasn't sure about the College Football Playoff when it was first introduced, but he's since come around on the idea.
"If you by chance stub your toe somewhere along the lines, you have a chance to make it up," Fulmer said. "We did, and we have, and I think I would've loved to be a part of that and seen what we could have done in our 16 seasons."
Quite a few of the Fulmer-led Tennessee teams would have made it into the playoff had it existed during his head coaching tenure. In that era of college football, one loss during the regular season often disqualified you from a spot in the national championship game.
"It was hard to do that," he said. "If we had the four-team, not even 12, we would have been in the mix. That's kind of history, and fast forward now we're in the mix and we have a chance to really make a run here."
When the Vols defeated Ohio State in the 1996 Citrus Bowl, they finished the season No. 2 in the Coaches Poll and No. 3 in the final AP Poll, but a loss to Florida earlier in the season derailed their national title hopes. Fulmer's teams used the momentum from the Citrus Bowl win as a jumping-off point for the seasons to come, but the modern playoff format has made it so this year's teams can learn from losses and still have a championship in sight.
"It took us the '93-'94-'94 seasons to get to where we wanted to be and that was in the national championship mix," Fulmer said. "[It's] exactly like we are now, and they've got to carry the banner. I believe they will."
The Vols will take on Ohio State in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday night in Columbus. That game is set to kick off at 8 p.m.