Tennessee is under a week from kicking off its 2022 football season against Ball State inside Neyland Stadium. The Vols are looking to start Josh Heupel’s second season strong and avoid a disaster loss like Jeremy Pruitt had to start his second season.
Las Vegas doesn’t foresee Tennessee having any trouble. The Vols are 33.5-point favorites over the Cardinals according to Caesar’s Sports Book. The over/under is 68.0.
Tennessee was bad against the spread in Josh Heupel’s first season as head coach, posting a 4-8 record and 3-5 SEC record.
As much as Tennessee struggled against the spread, Ball State was even worse in 2021. The Cardinals were 4-9 against the spread in their 6-7 season.
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The Vols return an abundance of talent from its 7-6 (4-4 SEC) team a season ago including 15 total starters. Chief among them is starting quarterback Hendon Hooker who enters the season as a dark horse Heisman Candidate.
Expectations are elevated in Heupel’s second season thanks to Hooker’s return and the Vols’ overachieving 2021 season. The Las Vegas over/under win total for Tennessee is 7.5 with betters getting better odds on the under.
After starting the 2021 season 1-3, Ball State squeaked into a bowl game at 6-6 before falling to Georgia State.
Tennessee kicks off its 2022 season on Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. ET. The SEC Network will broadcast the game.
