Tennessee faces its first true test of the 2024 season on Saturday night when it faces No. 24 North Carolina State in the Duke’s Mayo Classic.
Both teams enter the matchup 1-0 with wins over FCS teams in the opening week of the college football season. However, Tennessee’s win was much more convincing as they dominated Chattanooga 69-3 while NC State trailed Western Carolina entering the fourth quarter before pulling ahead to earn a 38-21 victory.
The Vols are nine-point favorites over the Wolfpack early Saturday afternoon. Tennessee was six-point favorites on Sunday before the line got as high as 10 points later in the week before moving down to nine.
The ESPN College Gameday crew is in lockstep with the oddsmakers in the desert with everyone picking Tennessee to earn the victory. Former Alabama coach Nick Saban picked the Vols while saying that Tennessee was going “to be hard to beat” this season.
Kickoff between Tennessee and North Carolina State is at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night. Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe are on the call for ABC.
More From RTI: Tennessee Football Announces Captains For NC State Game
How The College Gameday Crew Picked Tennessee vs. NC State
Desmond Howard: Tennessee
Nick Saban: Tennessee
Pat McAfee: Tennessee
Celebrity Guest Picker Michael Phelps: Tennessee
Lee Corso: Tennessee
Kirk Herbstreit: No pick. Calling the game
