Tennessee made the College Football Playoff, a signature step for the program.

Now can the Vols win the national title? They face a difficult path.

No. 9 seed Tennessee (10-2) plays No. 8 seed Ohio State (10-2) on Dec. 21 (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN) in Columbus, Ohio, in a first-round game. The winner plays No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 (5 p.m. ET, ESPN) in Pasadena, California, in the quarterfinal.

Here is our prediction for the entire College Football Playoff bracket.

Ohio State has arguably the most talented roster in the 12-team CFP field, and Oregon is the only undefeated team.

That means the Vols would have to pull off mild upsets in back-to-back games away from Neyland Stadium. That's plausible but not probable.

Those odds would skyrocket if the Vols got past Ohio State and Oregon, and not just because the field would narrow to four teams. The opponents in the semifinal and national title game perhaps would be no better than what Tennessee faced in the first two rounds.

Ohio State also seems vulnerable coming off a loss to Michigan. If the Vols' elite defensive line can overpower the Buckeyes, they could pull off the road win. But that's easier said than done.

Tennessee has +2500 odds to win the national championship, according to BetMGM.

Tennessee faces Ohio State in the first round of the CFP. Here are the game lines and odds for that matchup:

The Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl are quarterfinal games. The Capital One Orange Bowl and Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic are the semifinal games.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email [email protected]. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Will Tennessee win CFP? Bracket predictions for every playoff game