After pitching a second-half shutout in a 34-6 win over Kentucky, Tennessee vaulted five spots to No. 8 in the Nov. 10 College Football Playoff rankings revealed Tuesday night.

The Volunteers (7-2, 4-2 SEC) hold multiple double-digit victories over current top 11 teams, and they are the only team to do so. Tennessee beat current No. 3 Alabama 26-10 on Oct. 17 and ran away from current No. 11 Kentucky with 24 unanswered points last Saturday.

Tennessee's two losses were by a combined six points to current No. 6 Texas (20-17) and on the road at No. 17 South Carolina (27-24) in the final seconds.

The Vols travel to take on Texas A&M at Kyle Field at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT Saturday on ESPN.

The problem with the poll is the strength of schedule issue. The Southeastern Conference is loaded with ranked teams. Nine of the Top 25 teams are from the SEC.

Take No. 2 Utah, for instance. The Utes are unbeaten, but they've played just two ranked teams -- No. 14 Houston and No. 10 BYU. Arizona, No. 23 in this poll, is the last Top 25 team for Utah.

Then, there's No. 7 Miami. The Hurricanes plummeted from No. 1 after losing to Notre Dame. Besides the Irish, now No. 5, the only significant team they've played was Wake Forest, and that was in September before the Demon Deacons were mentioned in any poll.

UCLA has yet to lose, even though they've lost quarterback Nico Iamaleava for the season with a knee injury. One factor for the Bruins' success might be that the only ranked team they have played is No. 16 Oregon, a game they won by two points. Rival USC, ranked No. 18, is left on their schedule.

Directly behind Tennessee at No. 9 is Indiana. The defending national champions, like last year, are loaded with cupcakes. The only ranked team the Hoosiers have played was Ohio State. The Buckeyes won by four. They had to go overtime to beat a couple struggling programs, Michigan and Minnesota. They host USC this weekend, with Washington and Purdue left.

Notre Dame has had two ranked teams on its schedule -- losing to BYU and beating Miami. What's left is Boston College, SMU and Syracuse. Not exactly Murderer's Row.

Besides beating No. 3 Alabama and No. 11 Kentucky, Tennessee lost by three to No. 6 Texas and by three to No. 17 South Carolina. Left for the Vols is a home date with No. 21 LSU sandwiched between trips to Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

Maybe the 24-team field will remove some of the problems that exist with the disparity of schedules. Of course, Team No. 25 likely won't see it that way.

College Football Playoff Rankings (Nov. 10)

1. Georgia

2. Utah

3. Alabama

4. UCLA

5. Notre Dame

6. Texas

7. Miami

8. Tennessee

9. Indiana

10. BYU

11. Kentucky

12. Texas Tech

13. Wake Forest

14. Houston

15. Iowa

16. Oregon

17. South Carolina

18. USC

19. Ole Miss

20. Ohio State

21. LSU

22. Missouri

23. Arizona

24. Boise State

25. Oklahoma State

Source: Yahoo Sports