Tennessee is on a hot streak to close the season, and Vanderbilt is in the midst of one of their worst seasons in quite some time. All of that has led Vegas to crown the Vols as heavy favorites heading into next weekend’s match-up between the two in-state teams.
According to Circa Sports, Tennessee has opened up as a 20-point favorite over the Commodores. If that spread holds up till kick-off, it will mark the largest spread in favor of the Vols in their annual match-up with Vanderbilt since UT was favored by 21 points prior to the two teams meeting in 2003. Tennessee won that game 48-0 in Knoxville.
The Vols have gone on a tear to end the 2019 season, and they gained bowl eligibility this weekend with a 24-20 victory over Missouri. After starting the season 1-4, Tennessee has climbed to 6-5 and have won four-straight games.
Vanderbilt, meanwhile, is having a forgettable season.
The Commodores are fresh off a 38-0 win over ETSU, but Vandy is only 3-8 on the season and has one SEC win in seven conference contests. Vanderbilt’s only SEC win this season came against Missouri, a 21-14 victory in Nashville.
Otherwise, Vanderbilt has been blown out in every other SEC contest this season.
Vandy has lost by an average of 29 points in their six losses to SEC teams this season. The Commodores also have losses to Purdue (42-24) and UNLV (34-10) this year.
Despite the Commodores’ abysmal season, Tennessee would do well not to overlook their in-state foes in the 2019 regular season finale.
Vanderbilt has won three-straight games against the Vols, and none of those games have been particularly close. The Commodores won 38-13 in Nashville last year and entered that game as favorites, marking the first time since 2012 they were favorites over the Vols. Vanderbilt won 42-24 in Knoxville in 2017 and defeated UT 45-34 in Nashville in 2016.
Tennessee is 75-33-5 all-time against Vanderbilt, but the Commodores have won the last three contests against UT and are 5-2 against the Vols in their last seven meetings. Before this last seven-game stretch, Vanderbilt had won one game against the Vols from 1983 through 2011.
Dating back to 1995, the Vols are 6-0 when favored by 20 points or more over Vanderbilt. Tennessee has never given up more than 10 points to the Commodores when they’ve entered the game as favorites of 20 points or more.
The Vols and Commodores will kick-off at 4:00 PM Eastern in Neyland Stadium on Saturday, November 30th. The game will be televised on the SEC Network, and it will be Senior Night for Tennessee.
