Vanderbilt opens as a 20-point underdog at Tennessee

Per Circa Sports on Twitter, Vanderbilt opens as a 20-point underdog at Tennessee on Saturday. The predicted total for the game is 50.

Vanderbilt has won three in a row in the annual rivalry for the first time since 1926, when the Commodores won the last of a six-game winning streak against the Vols. But the teams have taken on polar opposite trajectories since last season: Tennessee has won five of its last six after beating Missouri on Saturday, and is bowl eligible for the first time since 2016. Vanderbilt, meanwhile, is 3-8 after beating East Tennessee State on Saturday. Per covers.com, the 20-point line would qualify as the largest in the series since at least 2009. I can’t find lines before that, but you’d probably have to go back to 2004 to find the last time Vanderbilt would have been that big of an underdog. That year, Tennessee came in ranked 15th in the AP poll and Vanderbilt was on its way to a 2-9 finish; of course, Vanderbilt lost that game 38-33 (and would end the 22-game losing streak in the series a year later.)

In other opening lines of interest:

• Ole Miss is a 1-point favorite at Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl, with a total of 58.
• Missouri is a 13.5-point favorite at Arkansas, with a total of 56.
• Georgia is a 29-point favorite at Georgia Tech, with a total of 44.
• Clemson is a 26-point favorite at South Carolina, with a total of 49.5.
• LSU is a 15-point favorite over Texas A&M, with a total of 60.5.
• Alabama is a 3-point favorite at Auburn, with a total of 49.5.
• Kentucky is a 4-point favorite over Louisville, with a total of 51.
• Florida is an 18-point favorite over Florida State, with a total of 53.5.