Tennessee hasn’t been a favorite in an SEC game this season, and that trend will continue this upcoming weekend when they travel to Columbia, SC to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks.
The betting line for Tennessee’s match-up with South Carolina was released on Monday, and the Gamecocks opened up as 7.5-point favorites over the Vols according to Vegas Insider. Tennessee was a 28.5-point underdog to Alabama this past weekend, a 15-point underdog to Auburn on the road the previous week, and was a big underdog to Georgia a few weeks ago. Tennessee was also a home underdog to Florida and opened the season as a two-score underdog to West Virginia.
The Vols (3-4, 1-3 SEC) are coming off a 58-21 loss to No. 1 Alabama while South Carolina (3-3, 2-3) is coming off a bye week. They’ve beaten Coastal Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Missouri for their three wins and have lost to Georgia, Kentucky, and Texas A&M for their three losses. Their game against Marshall was canceled due to the hurricane that was moving through the Carolinas at the time.
Last year, South Carolina defeated the Vols 15-9 in Neyland Stadium. The Gamecocks sacked Jarrett Guarantano eight times in his first career start for Tennessee, and the Vols didn’t score a touchdown in the contest. In 2016, the Gamecocks spoiled the Vols’ hopes of winning the SEC East by defeating Tennessee 24-21 in Columbia.
Tennessee holds a 25-9-2 edge over South Carolina in the series, but the Gamecocks have won two straight and six of the last 10 meetings between the two teams. South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp is undefeated against Tennessee as a head coach, wining both his match-ups with them as head coach of the Gamecocks and going 4-0 against UT while he was head coach of the Florida Gators.
The Vols and Gamecocks will kick off at 7:30 PM Eastern this Saturday, October 27th.
