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Tennessee-Georgia spread cut in half in favor of Vols

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey09/08/25GrantRamey
Josh Heupel discusses effect checkered Neyland Stadium on opponents ole miss Week 7
Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Tennessee Football isn’t nearly as big of a home underdog against Georgia as the Vols were 24 hours ago. On Sunday the Vols opened as a touchdown underdog, according to odds released by BetMGM, but the line had been cut in half by Monday afternoon, dropping to Georgia +3.5.

Kickoff on Saturday is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC in the SEC opener in front of a Checker Board capacity crowd at Neyland Stadium. 

“One of the toughest places to play in all college football,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said on Monday. “It’ll be as loud as it ever is. It always is one of the loudest in the SEC for sure.”

‘(The) previous Saturday has nothing to do with … the following Saturday’

Georgia (2-0) beat Austin Peay 28-6 Saturday at Sanford Stadium in Athens and opened the season at home last week with a 45-7 win over Marshall. 

The Vols (2-0) set a modern day program record for scoring in a 72-17 win over East Tennessee State. Tennessee opened the season with a 45-26 win over Syracuse last week in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. 

“(The) previous Saturday,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said on Monday, “has nothing to do with what’s going to happen or transpire the following Saturday. Nothing good or bad follows with you. You got to learn from your lessons and your preparation practice, take you to a position where you’re ready to go play at a high level.”

ESPN College GameDay coming to Knoxville for Tennessee-Georgia

ESPN’s College GameDay will broadcast live from Knoxville Saturday morning on the lawn in front of historic Ayres Hall on The Hill. It’s the third time during the Josh Heupel era that Tennessee has hosted the ESPN pregame show, following the 2022 wins over Florida and Alabama. 

“Obviously we know the test that we have in front of us facing a really good Georgia football team,” Heupel said. “It’s a great weekend, opportunity for (ESPN College) GameDay to be here on the greatest stage in college football.”

Tennessee has lost eight straight in the Georgia series, dating back to the Jauan Jennings Hail Mary in the 34-31 win in Athens in 2016.

The Vols have failed to cover in their last six games against the Bulldogs and are 13-15-1 against the spread and 16-13 over/under dating back to 1995. 

Tennessee was an 8.5-point underdog at Georgia last November, in the 31-17 loss at Sanford Stadium. The Vols were a nine-point home underdog in 2023 and a 19.5-point underdog in Knoxville in 2021, in the first season under Heupel.

“They’ve been really good games, right?” Smart said. “When you play in the SEC and you’re in these really tough top ten matchups, top 25 matchups, they can go either way a lot of times. At the end of the day, they’ve played us physical, we’ve played them physical. They’ve all been really, really tough physical games.”

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