Tennessee football remains a great bet for 2022

They’re 5-0 with three wins over Power Five teams who were ranked when they faced them. Two of those wins were on the road. Still, oddsmakers can’t seem to bring themselves to respect Tennessee football. To be fair, with the way the Vols have dramatically underachieved the past 15 years, it makes sense.

UT is tied for seventh on WynnBET in terms of best odds to win the national title at +6000. Meanwhile, Hendon Hooker is fifth on the same site at +1500 to win the Heisman. If you’re going to bet on the Vols, this is your best site.

Tied with Tennessee football on WynnBET are the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Utah Utes. Ahead of them are the USC Trojans at +1800, which is a significant jump. The Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State Buckeyes, Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs round out the top four.

As for the Heisman, C.J. Stroud of Ohio State is No. 1 at +145. Caleb Williams of USC comes in at No. 2 at +500. On WynnBET, Bryce Young of Alabama is still No. 3, despite being banged up, at +850, and Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama’s running back, is fourth at +1200.

Bettors were a lot more favorable to Tennessee football on FanDuel. The Vols are seventh on their own, behind the same teams as FanDuel, among teams with legitimate odds to win the national title. They are at +4000 there.

Meanwhile, Hooker is third in that Heisman race at +1400, second to only Williams at +1200 and Stroud, who is now up at -140. Look, it makes sense for Stroud to be the favorite, and he’d really have to mess up to lose the Heisman.

However, if you’re looking for a steal in the betting markets, that could apply to the Vols. Things are going to change dramatically, one way or another, in the markets this weekend after UT faces Alabama on Rocky Top.

Alabama is a 7.5-point favorite on WynnBET and FanDuel, but to be fair, that line moved from 9.5 to 10 when it first came out. That’s great news for the Vols, and with questions about Bryce Young’s health, a lot of things are working in their favor.

Of course, what really stands out in the big picture is that the Vols don’t need to win this game to stay alive in the national or SEC Championship race. Remember, Alabama is still a West opponent, and things are more likely to come down to their matchup with Georgia.

That’s still getting way ahead of the curve. Josh Heupel’s team, even if they lose to Alabama, has to get past the UT-Martin Skyhawks and Kentucky Wildcats. Although Kentucky lost Saturday, this team is still dangerous if they have Will Levis at quarterback.

Meanwhile, the team that beat Kentucky, the South Carolina Gamecocks, will host the Vols in late November. UT will face Kentucky with UK coming off its bye, and since their bye was so early, the Vols will have played seven straight when facing South Carolina. That makes losing both games plausible on paper.

As a result, nothing is clear for Tennessee football yet. This is a team that started 5-0 in 2016 only to finish 9-4, so things can collapse in the second half of the season. However, they have better odds than they have had in a while, and that could make this interesting.

Note: Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change