Tennessee Volunteers Future Odds
Vols 9-3 ATS in 2023; first winning season since 2019
Tennessee finished the 2023 season 11-2 after handing Clemson a 31-14 loss in last year’s Orange Bowl. It was the second straight winning season under head coach Josh Heupel who took over a program mired in a 9-27 slump, a run that included just two conference wins since 2017. Last season, Tennessee finished 7-2 as a favorite and 4-1 as a home favorite. In 2023, Tennessee is +2800 to win the National Championship (11th choice overall).
Tennessee Volunteers At A Glance
| Odds to Win | Opening Odds | Current Odds |
| National Championship | +3000 | +2800 |
| Conference | +1200 | +1400 |
| Regular Season Win Total | 9.5 (o+150, u-180) | 9.5 (o+150, u-180) |
| To Make Playoffs (if applicable) | Yes +650 No -1200 | Yes +650 No -1200 |
Volunteers To Lean On High-Powered Offense
The Tennessee Volunteers’ future odds have improved significantly (+3000) from what they were in 2022 (+10000) because of an offense that was the best in College Football in 2022, averaging 538.1 yards per game. The Volunteers averaged 47.3 points per game (ranked #1) and third in ing yards (332.3 yards per game, 3rd in College Football).
If they can get a little more from a secondary that allowed 287 ing yards per game (127th), the championship talk could become a reality. The Volunteers will have to replace quarterback Hendon Hooker (Lions) with Joe Milton or Nico Lamaleava, a 5-star recruit. Tennessee’s success will start with its ability to replace 3,135 yards through the air.
Hooker threw just two interceptions in 2022 and five in his last two Giants). That means that Squirrel White (373 yards receiving) and Cedric Tillman (417 yards) must seamlessly pick up the pace for a duo that combined for 1681 yards receiving.
The Vols finished 6th in the final 2022 NCAAF rankings but did spend one week at the top in week nine before losing to #3 Georgia (27-13) in Athens. From a betting perspective, the Vols are 9-5 ATS over the last two seasons as a favorite, 4-6 ATS as a dog. Against the SEC Tennessee is 8-8 ATS since 2021. We continue our Tennessee Volunteers’ future odds preview with a look at the Vols’ chances to win a National Championship.
National Championship Odds: Expect Volunteers To Step Back
When we pick teams that have a realistic chance to win a championship, there must be stability at the key positions, and with questions at quarterback and the skilled positions, we think it’s likely Tennessee is at least a year away from a true title run.
College Football stats don’t always tell the entire story, but to think the nation’s #1 offense will have the same potency as last season is a pipedream. Even with Hooker, Tennessee’s high-octane attack was stifled when stepping up to Georgia, managing just 13 points in a 27-13 loss.
True, there was an earlier win against #3 Alabama (52-49), but 52 points are what this offense needed to put up to get a win against one of College Football’s elite, don’t anticipate their offense this season to be able to match that effort.
Conference Odds: Volunteers’ Fifth Choice in SEC
Last year, Tennesse was +1400 to win the SEC; they get a slight bump up to +1200 in 2023. We think Tennessee will be around the nine-win mark, but to ask Tennessee to jump over Georgia, Alabama, LSU, and Texas A&M is too much to ask.
We have other NCAAF predictions we like more, but we know Tennessee winning the SEC is at least a year or two away. Let’s continue our Tennessee future odds preview by looking at their regular season win total projection.
Regular Season Wins: Books Make ‘Over’ a Juicy Option
Sportsbooks are not dumb. They know the public will look at +150 with the over (9 ½) and think that is the side to wager. Tennessee will have a tremendous year, but we count nine wins at best in 2023. We think they’ll take losses to Alabama, Texas A&M, and Georgia inside the conference. In addition, there are no guarantees that they walk into Gainsville and get a win against Florida to start their SEC schedule.
The Volunteers’ strength of schedule is 16th in the nation with an opponent-combined record of 90-62 (59.2%). Even if the offense takes a small step backward, we’re not sure the defense is any closer to being as good as Georgia, and you can bet they won’t put up 52 against Alabama again. We conclude our Tennessee future odds preview by looking at their chances to appear in the playoffs.
To Make Playoffs: Tennessee Listed But Might As Well Not be
To Make Playoffs: Tennessee Listed But Might As Well Not be
The Volunteers haven’t been listed in the playoff odds since 2018, but after a 10-win season, the oddsmakers were forced to put a number on the Vols. Tennessee is +650 to make the playoffs.
This is simple, if we feel they’re going to lose three games inside the conference, that’s not going to get them anywhere near the playoffs. That does it for our Tennessee future odds preview; it will be a fun season in Knoxville, just not as fun as the faithful anticipate.
For Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
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