Vegas sets Tennessee football's odds to win the SEC this season
Tennessee football has the fourth best odds to win the Southeastern Conference this season, according to odds released recently by BetOnline. The Vols, at 1/1 (+1400) are behind Georgia (1/1, +100), Alabama (2/1, +200) and LSU (21/4, +525).
Texas A&M (14/1, +1400) has the same odds as Tennessee. Behind the Vols and Aggies are Ole Miss (33/1, +3300) and Auburn (66/1, +6600). Florida and Mississippi State have matching odds at 75/1 (+7500). Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri and South Carolina are all 80/1 (+8000) and Vanderbilt is last at 100/1 (+10000).
BetOnline earlier this month gave Tennessee 9/1 odds to make the College Football Playoff this season. The Vols are -1800 to not make the playoff, with a 94.7 percent of missing out on the four-team bracket.
Georgia is -240 to make the playoff, with 5/12 odds, and Ohio State is -130, at 10/13. Michigan has 5/4 odds and Alabama is 3/2. Florida State is 3/1, LSU is 4/1 and USC is 5/2.
ESPN’s Football Power Index ranking has Tennessee at No. 12 heading into the 2023 season. The Vols are the fourth-highest ranked SEC team, behind Alabama, Georgia and LSU. ESPN’s SP+ ranking, which weighs returning production, recent recruiting and recent history, has Tennessee ranked No. 6 overall, with the No. 2 offense and No. 32 defense.
The FPI predicts Tennessee will go 8-4 in 2023 — the projected win-loss record is 8.2-3.9 —and gives the Vols a 98.1 percent chance to win at least six games. They have a 5.4 percent chance to win the SEC East, a 1.2 percent chance to win the SEC and a 2.5 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff. There’s an 0.7 percent chance to make the national championship game and an 0.2 percent chance to win the title.
Kickoff times set for Tennessee’s games against Virginia, Florida
Kickoff times and TV information for Tennessee football’s season-opener against Virginia and SEC-opener against Florida has been set so far.
The Vols announced on May 31 that the September 2 game against Virginia, a neutral-site game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, will be a Noon Eastern Time kickoff on ABC. It will be the second consecutive year the Vols will be on ABC after the Pitt game was televised on the network last September.
The road game at Florida on September 16 will be a 7 p.m. ET start on ESPN South Carolina at Georgia will be the SEC Game of the Week on CBS earlier that afternoon.
Kickoff time for the September 9 home-opener against Austin Peay has not yet been set, but the game will be an ESPN+/SEC Network+ online live stream.
Vols finished No. 5 in Football Power Index in 2022
ESPN defines its Football Power Index as “a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule. Ratings and projections update daily.”
Tennessee finished fifth in the FPI in 2022, after going 11-2 and winning the Orange Bowl over Clemson in December at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The Vols started the season 8-0, debuting at No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff of the season in November, before losses at Georgia and South Carolina.
Josh Heupel’s uptempo offense, which this season is forced to replace Hendon Hooker at quarterback, led college football in scoring last season, averaging 46.1 points per game. The Vols were fifth in passing offense, averaging 326.1 yards per game, and averaged 199.4 rush yards per game.
