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Tennessee football: New Vegas line has Vols as major underdogs vs rivals in 2017

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 12, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; General view during the first half of the game between the Kentucky Wildcats and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; General view during the first half of the game between the Kentucky Wildcats and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tennessee football’s 2017 team is getting no respect at this point. A new Las Vegas line has the Volunteers as major underdogs vs Florida and Alabama.

Must Read: Tennessee football: 10 worst Vols losses this century

We’re just over two months out from the start of the 2017 season, and one thing is clear: nobody expects anything from this year’s Tennessee football team.

Contrary to the past two years, the Vols enter Butch Jones’s fifth season with very little hype and with him on the hot seat.

But that’s something most people expected considering the key players the Vols lost.

What they didn’t expect is just how massive the disrespect would be towards the program. A new line in Vegas shows just how much the oddsmakers are betting against Tennessee football.

According to the Golden Nugget sportsbook, Tennessee football is a 24.5 underdog to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Although that could make sense after the Vols lost to them 49-10 at home last year and look to be worse this year, according to many analysts, it’s still a major level of disrespect to expect such a blowout every year in a rivalry game like this one.

But funny enough, that’s not even the craziest line.

The craziest one is the Florida Gators being a nine and a half point favorite over the Vols. How to the oddsmakers figure that?

Last year, Tennessee football dominated Florida, and the Gators squeaked out one point victories each of the two years before that.

In no way should those instances translate to the Vols losing to the Gators by nearly 10 points this year, even if it is in The Swamp.

The book does favor the Vols over Georgia Bulldogs by one point at home, which is indeed a toss-up game.

And the other game they picked regarding Tennessee football is their game against the LSU Tigers, where they are a seven and a half point underdog at home.

That may be a little high as well, but it’s still not as bad as the Vols being a nine and a half point underdog to Florida.

Next: Top 10 Vols who need their jerseys retired

What’s clear in all of this, though, is that this year it’s Tennessee football against the world. And hey, maybe that’ll be a motivational factor.

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