College football Week 4 predictions: Tennessee vs. Oklahoma, more picks against the spread
Tennessee has become a trendy title pick.The computers have fallen hard, too.
(ESPN’s FPI gives the Vols the fourth-best odds — ahead of Georgia — to win the national championship).It is a program less than two years removed from being the top-ranked team in the nation, led by a coach (Josh Heupel) who previously nearly led a Group of Five team to an undefeated season.It is an offense with a five-star quarterback who came to Knoxville on an $8 million NIL deal (Nico Iamaleava).
It is a defense with a potential top-five draft pick on the edge (James Pearce Jr.).Tennessee has the nation’s top-scoring offense (63.7 points per game) and the nation’s top-ranked unit in total defense, contributing to the largest scoring margin (plus-178) in a team’s first three games in SEC history.Thus, the Vols have attracted nearly 80 percent of bets (and 90 percent of money) for their visit to Oklahoma, where the Sooners are ranked (No.15) underdogs of at least four points for the first time in 46 years.Oklahoma is flawed, especially on its offensive line, which has struggled to protect its talented and inexperienced quarterback (Jackson Arnold) in back-to-back efforts against inferior competition.
The Sooners appear weaker on the surface, simply due to its move to the SEC.But the world looks different in Norman, where Oklahoma — a top-10 offense and defense last season — has posted the best home record in college football since 1999, where the Sooners have gone undefeated in four of the past six seasons.During the Vols’ resurgence the past two seasons, Tennessee suffered five of its six losses on the road.Now, Iamaleava will be truly tested for the first time, with the redshirt freshman making his road debut against a strong defense. It has been 24 years since Oklahoma was a home dog of at least a field goal, when the Sooners topped No.
1 Nebraska.Heupel started that game for the Sooners at quarterback.
Current Oklahoma coach Brent Venables was co-defensive co...