Tennessee opens as huge home favorite for Saturday night's game vs. Kent State
Tennessee Football is back home and once again will be a huge favorite against visiting Kent State Saturday night at Neyland Stadium. The Vols opened as an 47.5-point favorite against the Golden Flashes for the Week 3 game, per The Action Network.
The game is scheduled for a 7:45 p.m. Eastern Time start and will be televised by SEC Network.
Tennessee covered as a 38-point favorite against Chattanooga in Week 1, winning 69-3 at Neyland Stadium. The Vols covered a 9-point spread against NC State in a 51-10 win in the Duke’s Mayo Classic at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
No. 14 Tennessee vs. Kent State, Saturday, 7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network
Kent State lost 23-17 to St. Francis (PA) at home on Saturday at home. The Red Flash, an FCS program in the Northeast Conference, led 20-7 late in the first half and ended the game with 402 total yards, running for 207 and passing for 195.
St. Francis was a 19.5-point underdog before winning at Kent State.
Kent State went just 2-for-14 on third down and had just 280 total yards in the loss. The Golden Flashes dropped to 0-2 after losing 55-24 at Pitt last week.
Saturday night’s game will be the first between the Tennessee and Kent State football programs.
ESPN’s Football Power Index has Kent State ranked dead last at No. 134 overall in the FBS. The FPI projects Kent State to go 3-9 with just a 5.4% chance to win six games.
Tennessee entered Saturday night ranked No. 7 overall in the FPI with a projected win-loss record of 9.2-3.0. It gives the Vols a 1.3% chance to go undefeated and a 98.8% chance to win at least six games.
Tennessee has a 6.4% chance to win the SEC, a 50.2% chance to make the new 12-team College Football Playoff, a 9.1% chance to make the national championship game and a 4.3% chance to win the title.
The FPI now projects a win-loss record of 9.2-3.0 for Tennessee. It gives the Vols a 1.3% chance to go undefeated and a 98.8% chance to win at least six games.
Vols went 7-6 against the spread last season
Tennessee went 7-6 against the spread last season. The Vols covered against South Carolina (-11.5), UTSA (-23.5), Texas A&M (-3), Kentucky (-4), Virginia (-27.5), UConn (-35) and Iowa (-6). They failed to cover against Austin Peay (-48.5), Florida (-5.5), Alabama (+8.5), Mizzou (-2.5), Georgia (+10.5) and Vanderbilt (-27).
After hosting Kent State on September 14, the Vols open SEC play with road games at Oklahoma (September 21) and at Arkansas (October 5).
Tennessee hosts Florida and Alabama back-to-back on October 12 and October 19, respectively, then has home games against Kentucky (November 2) and Mississippi State (November 9) before going to Georgia on November 16. The schedule ends with UTEP on November 23 and a trip to Vanderbilt on November 30.
