The ranks of college football’s unbeatens will lose a member on Saturday when the Alabama Crimson Tide visit the Tennessee Volunteers in a SEC showdown. This appears to be the best chance for the Vols to end their 15-game losing streak to Bama. They get the game at home and could face a Tide offense without Heisman winner Bryce Young. Alabama struggled offensively last week with Young shelved by a shoulder injury and he’s listed as day-to-day ahead of this matchup. Still, the Tide is a 7-point favorite on the college football betting line.
The Week 7 college football game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Tennessee Volunteers will take place at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, TN at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 15, 2022 and will be televised on CBS.
Alabama vs Tennessee Odds
Alabama Crimson Tide -7
Tennessee Volunteers +7
Over/Under 65
Odds Analysis
There has been action on the Vols dropping the spread a point after hitting the board at Alabama -8. The status of Young is a huge factor in the line so keep a close eye on how that plays out. Alabama closed as a 24-point favorite last week against Texas AM and never led by more than 10 points in the 24-20 victory. Young sat out with his injury leaving Jalen Milroe running the show. The Vols improved to 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS covering as a 2.5-point road favorite in their 40-13 win at LSU last week. The total has remained steady at 65.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama might be at its most vulnerable should Young miss another game. It’s clear just how much he means to the club after watching last week’s game with Texas AM. The Tide averaged nearly 56 points winning its previous three games with Young throwing eight touchdown passes. While they managed nearly 400 total yards against the Aggies their point total in the 24-20 win was the second-lowest in their last 24 home games. Making his first start, Milroe tossed three scoring passes and ran for 83 yards, but he was also responsible for three of four turnovers.
There has been no definitive mention of Young’s status for Saturday’s game and if Milroe gets the nod again expect the Tide to be more dialed in. “When you don’t have your quarterback out there and the second-teamer has to play, everybody’s got to play better,” Nick Saban said. Bama’s defense came up large with two late stops, including a forced incompletion from the 2-yard line on the game’s final play against the Aggies. Bama has won the last 15 meetings with UT with most of them blowouts. They are 11-4 ATS in that span cashing the OVER in seven of the last 10.
Tennessee Volunteers
I’m not sure anyone saw this happening, though fans were encouraged after Josh Heupel led the Vols to seven wins and a bowl game last season. The Vols moved up to No. 6 in the national rankings cracking the top-10 this year for the first time since 2016. And we’re seeing some of the Big 12 offensive fireworks from the former OU quarterback. The Vols have scored at least 34 points in every game and rank second nationally averaging 46.8 points. They also lead the country in total offense with nearly 550 yards per game.
There was no letdown in Death Valley last week with the Vols focused on snuffing out LSU before turning their attention to Bama. And they turned in a dominant performance in the 40-13 payout win over the Tigers. Hendon Hooker threw a pair of scoring passes and Jabari Small ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns as the Vols amassed 502 total yards. They forced two turnovers on defense and registered five sacks shutting the Tigers offense down. And the group was ravaged by Bama last year allowing 52 points and 574 yards.
Alabama vs Tennessee Predictions
The Vols are focused and they’re confident. And if Bama is without Young they may just end that lengthy losing skid. It’s hard to go against Saban and the Tide, but let’s be honest they’ve been fortunate in a couple of games. They eked by Texas thanks to Young’s late heroics and Texas AM was a play away from posting a second straight win over the Tide. Those games were against the toughest opponents Bama played.
And we could easily slide the Vols into that category. Tennessee really has nothing to lose since few had this game slotted as a matchup of unbeatens at the start of the year. I’m hesitant to back Tennessee since this is all new to them, but that losing streak has to end at some point and I think the home field advantage could be the difference. Either way I expect a close one and will back the points, but the total is too much.
Prediction: Tennessee Volunteers +7 / UNDER 65
