Texas A&M vs Tennessee Odds: Volunteers Favored Over Aggies

Two of the Best Pass Rushing Teams Set to Square Off in Saturday’s SEC Clash

Thanks to both teams already having a loss in conference play, this weekend’s matchup between Texas A&M and Tennessee feels like an elimination game when it comes to the teams competing for spots in the SEC championship game. The Texas A&M vs Tennessee odds list the host Volunteers as the slight favorites.

Texas A&M brings the No. 1 rated defense in the SEC to Knoxville while Tennessee is one of three SEC teams with more than 1000 yards both passing and running this season.

The college football betting lines list the Volunteers as three-point favorites.

Since the start of the 2022 ncaaf season, Tennessee is 7-2 against the college football odds when listed as the favorite at home while Texas A&M has covered in just one of the three games as the road underdog.

Texas A&M won 34-13 at Tennessee as a 13.5-point favorite when the teams last met in 2020. The game finished under the 49.5-point total. The Aggies also won a regular-season meeting in 2016 by a score of 45-38 as a 7.5-point favorite with that game finishing over the total. Before those two matchups, the last time the Aggies and Volunteers squared off was in the 2005 Cotton Bowl with Tennessee winning 38-7 as a five-point underdog.

When looking at the NCAAF standings, Tennessee is 1.5 games behind Georgia in the SEC East with Texas A&M one game in back of Alabama in the SEC West.

Tennessee started the season 12th in the odds to win the national title. Those odds have moved from +3000 to +15000 with the championship odds for Texas A&M going from +5000 to +30000.

Tennessee moved up one spot to No. 17 in the American Football Coaches Association poll and went from 22nd in the Associated Press poll to being tied with Washington State at No. 19. Texas A&M is receiving votes in both national polls.

Aggies Stuffing the Run

Texas A&M ranks in the top 10 nationally in defense against the run, giving up 84 yards per game. The Aggies are tied for the national lead with just one rushing touchdown allowed and the 2.6 yards per carry is tied for sixth.

It is a far cry from the 2022 season when no SEC team allowed more rushing yards per game than the Aggies. Part of the problem was that Texas A&M allowed 22 running plays of at least 20 yards last season. That number has been cut to just four. That could play a role in the Texas A&M vs Tennessee odds.

Texas A&M has covered against the NCAAF lines in five of its last seven games.

Volunteers Struggling to Get Passing Grades

The hope was that there would not be much drop-off with the departure of quarterback Hendon Hooker.

However, Joe Milton’s chance to be the unquestioned starter has produced missed results. He is 10th among SEC starting quarterbacks in passing efficiency and his average of 7.3 yards per passing attempt is one of the lowest in the conference.

Milton has three touchdown passes and three interceptions in two conference games after not throwing an interception in 82 passing attempts a season ago.

The total has gone under in five of Tennessee’s last seven games.

Last Meeting

Ainias Smith had a touchdown catch late in the first half and added a scoring run in the fourth quarter as Texas A&M rolled to the 34-13 win.

A Texas A&M interception with five seconds left ended any chance of the game finishing over the 49.5-point total after the Volunteers got the ball into Texas A&M territory with less than 20 seconds left to play.

Texas A&M had more yards both passing and rushing than Tennessee had total yards in the game.

Texas A&M vs Tennessee Betting Preview

Both the Aggies and Volunteers hoped to be undefeated going into this matchup. However, Texas A&M lost a non-conference game on the road against Miami and then fell at home to Alabama while Tennessee was upset by Florida.

Tennessee takes a 12-game home winning streak into this NCAAF matchup.

Texas A&M has lost its last seven true road games and has covered in just one of its last seven Saturday games on the road.

The total has gone over in six of the last eight SEC games played by Texas A&M.

Both quarterbacks could be under duress as Texas A&M leads all Football Bowl Subdivision teams with 26 sacks and Tennessee is tied for third with 22 sacks. The Aggies are tied for the national lead with 57 tackles for loss with Tennessee also ranking in the top 10.

A concern for the Aggies is the ability to finish off drives as they are last in the SEC when it comes to scoring touchdowns on red zone drives with just a 57% success rate.

A quick peek at the NCAAF football schedule shows that next up for Tennessee is a trip to face Alabama while Texas A&M does not play in Week 8.

Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman will miss the rest of the season due to a foot injury with defensive back Jardin Gilbert out with a shoulder injury.

For Tennessee, receiver Dont’e Thornton is expected to play versus the Aggies while fellow receiver Bru McCoy will miss the rest of the season due to an ankle injury. Offensive lineman Andrej Karic is questionable.

Only two SEC games have a higher total in Week 7 than the matchup between the Aggies and Volunteers as this game currently has a total of 56.

Both college football teams have been underwhelming at times this season. It makes sense to go with Tennessee to extend its home winning streak.

For NCAAF betting news, odds, analysis and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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