South Carolina vs Tennessee Matchup: Is It Payback Time For the Favored Volunteers?

Tennessee Eyeing Its 12th Straight Home Win With South Carolina Coming to Town.

One of the most surprising results of the 2022 SEC season saw South Carolina roll past a favored Tennessee team to snap a three-game losing streak in the series. When looking at the South Carolina vs Tennessee matchup, the Volunteers are double-digit favorites for the third straight meeting with the Gamecocks.

Tennessee is 6-2 against the college football odds as the home favorite since the start of the 2022 season with South Carolina 3-2 as the underdog on the road.

The college football betting lines list Tennessee as the 12.5-point favorite. Keep an eye on that line because plenty of early money is coming in on South Carolina.

According to the latest NCAAF rankings, Tennessee is 19th in the American Football Coaches Association poll and 21st in the Associated Press poll.

Tennessee’s national title odds have tumbled to +15000 thanks to a 13-point loss to SEC rival Florida. South Carolina is well back at +50000 in the championship odds.

Rattler Is Rattling The Competition

Spencer Rattler was a Heisman Trophy candidate at Oklahoma before somebody named Caleb Williams came along to take his job away.

Rattler is cutting it loose after an up-and-down first season at South Carolina as he is one of two SEC quarterbacks to average more than 300 passing yards per game. Keep that in mind when looking ahead to the South Carolina vs Tennessee matchup.

Tennessee is well aware of what Rattler is capable of after he threw for six touchdowns and completed 81% of his passes in the victory against Tennessee a season ago.

With games against North Carolina and No. 1 Georgia, it is not as if Rattler is piling up stats against inferior competition.

South Carolina has covered against the college football odds in five of its last seven games.

Volunteers Head Back Into Conference Play

The last time Tennessee faced an SEC team, it is fair to say that things didn’t go well, with the Volunteers falling to Florida.

A major issue in that game was that the defense was on the field for nearly 37.5 minutes. Giving up four straight touchdowns late in the first quarter and into the second quarter had Tennessee playing from behind. One long touchdown pass by Joe Milton wasn’t nearly enough.

Milton might have the strongest arm in college football. However, it takes more than that to have success at the college level.

The good news for Milton is that South Carolina allows the most passing yards in the SEC. That is certainly something to consider in the South Carolina vs Tennessee matchup.

The total has finished under in five of Tennessee’s last six games.

Last Meeting

Tennessee was a 22.5-point favorite on the road, and it didn’t take long to realize that not only would the Volunteers not cover, they weren’t going to return home from South Carolina with a victory.

Tennessee allowed 606 yards of offense in the loss as the game went over the 67-point total with 5:03 left in the third quarter.

What to Expect

Tennessee eyes its 12th straight home win and still has memories of how everything fell apart against the Gamecocks a season ago.

The total is set at 63, and it will be just the third time in the last 24 meetings that a Tennessee-South Carolina game has a total in the 60s. Last year’s game went well over the 67-point total, with the 2015 game won by Tennessee 27-24 falling short of the 60-point total.

Each of the last four games between the Volunteers and Gamecocks finished over the total, and this game could head that way as well, especially since South Carolina has allowed more yards this season than any other SEC team. Tennessee is allowing 100 fewer yards than it did a season ago.

Tennessee has covered in eight of its last 12 games as a double-digit favorite. South Carolina has covered in its last three games as a double-digit underdog.

South Carolina has also covered ATS in four of its last five road games and in four of the last five conference games.

The Volunteers have covered in 10 of their last 14 games as the favorite.

When looking at some NCAAF news, receiver Antwane Wells, who had 11 catches for 177 yards in last year’s game, is out for South Carolina. Fellow receiver Ahmarean Brown is questionable for the Gamecocks. Linebacker Keenan Pili will miss his fourth game in a row for Tennessee.

It’s hard to beat Tennessee in Knoxville, and add in the fact that South Carolina will have the Volunteers’ attention after how the 2022 meeting played out.

For college football news, odds and analysis, and more visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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