Tennessee is in the heart of football country, and the Volunteers are the state’s best-known and most successful NCAA team. This year the Vols began their 122nd season as one of the most storied programs in college football history. Tennessee is ranked 10th in wins (846), 11th in win-loss percentage (.674), and tied for fourth in bowl appearances (53).
The second-winningest team in SEC history behind Alabama, Tennessee has consistently fielded a national contender, although their last NCAA title came in 1998. Last year ended on a high note for Tennessee with an exciting 23-22 Gator Bowl victory versus Indiana to end the season with a six-game winning streak.
Head coach Jeremy Pruitt returns for his third season along with a top-ranked recruiting class, meaning Vols fans have high hopes for the team to build on last year’s success. What should we expect to see from the Vols this year? Here’s a guide to answer all your Volunteers betting questions for the season.
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Week | Date | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Sept. 26 | at South Carolina | W 31-27 |
2 | Oct. 3 | vs. Missouri | W, 35-12 |
3 | Oct. 10 | at Georgia | L, 44-21 |
4 | Oct. 17 | vs. Kentucky | L, 34-7 |
5 | Oct. 24 | vs. Alabama | L, 48-17 |
6 | Oct. 31 | Off | N/A |
7 | Nov. 7 | at Arkansas | L, 24-13 |
8 | Nov. 14 | vs. Texas A&M | PPD |
9 | Nov. 21 | at Auburn | L, 30-17 |
11 | Nov. 28 | vs. Florida | L, 31-19 |
10 | Dec. 5 | at Vanderbilt | W, 42-17 |
8 | Dec. 12 | vs. Texas A&M | L, 34-13 |
Tennessee is a unique state with legal sports betting. Since there are no casinos in the state, there are no retail sportsbooks either, which means all sports betting in TN is online. As a result, you’ll want to become familiar with the best TN sports betting apps with which to make your bets on the Vols.
The following three apps are favorites in other states with legalized wagering. They make it convenient to use your mobile device to bet on the Vols. One note worth pointing out, in Tennessee, live or in-game prop betting is not allowed on college sports. That means that option will not be available to you when betting on the Vols with these apps. Neither will prop bets on individual collegiate athletes.
An established giant in daily fantasy sports, DraftKings also operates popular sportsbooks in many states. In fact, many sports bettors name it their favorite sports betting app. DraftKings offers numerous promotions for college sports bettors, including Sportsbook Missions that give users regular rewards and other offers.
Also coming to sports betting via daily fantasy sports, FanDuel has become a major player with a popular online sportsbook app of its own. Among FanDuel’s usual bonuses and promotions is a Multi-Sport Parlay Insurance promo. With this, college football bettors can pair an NCAA bet with one or more bets on a different sport and get up to $25 back if all but one of their picks is correct.
The BetMGM online sportsbook offers its users all the great options and advantages found in MGM properties’ retail sportsbooks. Like other online sportsbooks, BetMGM has several ongoing promotions that college sports bettors can enjoy. One is a Multi-Sport Parlay Boost which pays out up to 40% more in profits on qualifying parlays.
Betting on college football adds an extra layer of excitement to watching the games. Here is a quick guide to some standard NCAA football bets that you can make when betting on the Volunteers.
There are a couple of other types of college football bets that are not allowed in Tennessee. These include:
Tennessee finished last year strong with five-straight regular season wins and a sixth win in a bowl game. Fans and commentators believe TN will carry that success over into 2020. Of course, playing in the SEC, the nation’s toughest conference, will bring significant challenges for TN as usual.
Most are picking Tennessee to finish third in the SEC East behind Florida and Georgia. That’s exactly where they ended up a year ago — third in the division, and behind those same two teams. However, uncertainty at the quarterback position is keeping high hopes for 2020 in check for now.
Tennessee has never had a player win the Heisman Trophy, not even Peyton Manning. Manning finished sixth, eighth, and second in the Heisman voting during his last three years at Tennessee.
It will be a long shot again this year for any Volunteer to win the Heisman. Three top candidates are:
Most pundits rank Tennessee’s incoming class of recruits as one of the strongest in the nation for 2020, and those who look further ahead have them ranked even higher in 2021.
Here are five recruits who have earned a lot of attention among those, among them is quarterback Harrison Bailey who some think might challenge for the starting job.
When betting on the Tennessee Volunteers in 2020, keep in mind how college football differs from the NFL.
For one thing, there are more big mismatches in college football. Since players are younger and of varying degrees of experience, you’ll see more mistakes in college than in the pros.
College football also involves a lot more teams and thus more information to study than with the NFL. While the NFL has only 32 teams, the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in which Tennessee plays has 130 teams.
With so many more teams to cover, sportsbooks aren’t as consistently good at making lines as they are with the NFL. That means if you study enough, you can find some good betting opportunities.
Here are a few Tennessee stats worth knowing about as you start thinking about making bets this season.
Tennessee was 7-6 against the spread last year, although they were 6-2 ATS in their last eight games.
Alabama | Florida | Georgia | Kentucky | Vanderbilt | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | L 13-35 | L 3-34 | L 14-43 | W 17-13 | W 28-10 |
2018 | L 21-58 | L 21-47 | L 12-38 | W 24-7 | L 13-38 |
2017 | L 7-45 | L 20-26 | L 0-41 | L 26-29 | L 24-42 |
2016 | L 10-49 | W 38-28 | W 34-31 | W 49-36 | L 34-45 |
2015 | L 14-19 | L 27-28 | W 38-31 | W 52-21 | W 53-28 |
Tennessee Volunteers football games can be seen via the ESPN networks, in particular via the SEC Network. You can watch the games on the air or live streamed using the WatchESPN app.
The Vol Network is the team’s radio broadcast holder, with more than 60 affiliates.
Such lists always spark debate about who got in and who got left out, but here are five players all Tennessee Volunteer fans remember as being among the best to wear orange and white.
The University of Tennessee began fielding a football team in 1891, and in over 120 years of action, has sent the team to bowl games more than 50 times, won 16 conference championships, and six national titles, the latest coming in 1998.
No less than 24 coaches and players who played for Tennessee are in the College Football Hall of Fame, the seventh-most among major college teams. That group includes two Pro Football Hall of Famers, Doug Atkins and Reggie White, and a future one, too, in Peyton Manning.
Two Tennessee Vols have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame both as a player and as a coach — Bobby Dodd and Bowden Wyatt. Johnny Majors is in as a player and also had a remarkable career as the UT coach.
From the very beginning, when one of the team’s players for the first team in 1891 picked orange and white for the team colors.
The famous orange-and-white checkerboard end zone was first introduced at Neyland Stadium in 1964. After being discontinued in 1968, it was brought back in 1989 and has been used ever since.
Some might argue for Johnny Majors, but the consensus is quarterback Peyton Manning (1994-1997) is the best player ever to play for UT.
No, they have not. In fact, UT has had players finish second in the Heisman Trophy four times. Running backs Frank Lauricella (1951) and Johnny Majors (1956) both finished runner-up, as did quarterbacks Heath Shuler (1993) and Peyton Manning (1997).
You can find the Tennessee Volunteers football roster, schedule, and a lot more at the University of Tennessee Athletics website.