ESPN’s FPI – the Football Power Index – has been good to the Vols in 2015. It ranked Tennessee as a top 15 teams in the preseason and predicted the Vols would win 11 games during the 2015 campaign.
Neither of those things worked out, but the FPI is liking Tennessee in the postseason as well. After picking 78% of games correctly during this college football season, the FPI is picking Tennessee to win over Northwestern on Jan. 1 in the Outback Bowl with a 77.5% chance to get the victory over the Wildcats. That’s the highest of any SEC team in a bowl matchup.
The SEC is favored in ALL 10 of their bowl games according to ESPN's FPI. pic.twitter.com/c4CN3QRgQy
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) December 28, 2015
That’s also the third-highest chance to win a bowl game this year, according to the FPI, and the highest chance among games yet to be played. The Vols sit as 8.5-point favorites, according to VegasInsider.com. Participants in ESPN’s Bowl Mania challenge aren’t as confident in the Vols. It’s a dead-even 50/50 split there between UT and Northwestern:
