Tennessee walked out of Saturday night with a huge win over Alabama and a 6-1 record, but the next hurdle comes fast and looks trickier than the line might suggest.
The Volunteers head to Columbia, South Carolina, to face a Gamecocks team coming off a bye, and the market is barely giving Tennessee any breathing room. According to Fanduel Sportsbook, the Volunteers are only a 1.5-point favorite.
That number jumps out, especially with Tennessee riding the momentum of a statement win and South Carolina getting extra time to reset. Shane Beamer had been staring at a rough situation at 2-3, but South Carolina flipped it with a surprising 38-19 road win at Florida. LaNorris Sellers had four touchdown passes in that game, and Beamer got a much-needed boost heading into the bye.
For Tennessee, this trip carries some familiar baggage. Williams-Brice Stadium has not been a friendly stop over the last decade.
The Vols lost there in 2022, which is the last time they played in Columbia. They also dropped games there in 2018 and 2016.
Even when Tennessee won in 2020 and 2014, those games were tight.
This year, though, Tennessee may be leaning on a different kind of edge. Jim Knowles’ defense has been one of the best units in the sport, and it could be the group that makes life difficult for Sellers and South Carolina.
The timing also matters. Tennessee gets its bye the following week, a welcome pause in the middle of SEC play before a closing stretch that includes Kentucky, Texas A&M, LSU and Vanderbilt.
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Tennessees Alabama High Faces A Brutal Test At South Carolina
The bounce from Tennessees upset of then-No. 6 Alabama still matters, and it has pushed the Volunteers up to No. 11 in the latest AP Poll. But the reset comes quickly in Week 8, where a trip to South Carolina asks whether that statement win is the start of a surge or just one sharp night in a long SEC grind.
South Carolina has its own headliner waiting in quarterback LaNorris Sellers, a player already drawing attention as a potential 2027 NFL Draft pick and a central reason the Gamecocks are a dangerous matchup at home. The game figures to hinge on how Tennessee handles that challenge, and with the breakdown leaning toward South Carolina, the Vols are walking into one of those tests that can say a lot about how real their rise actually is. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessees Alabama Win Just Earned Even More SEC Respect
The win over Alabama did more than just energize Tennessees sideline and fan base. It also drew a fresh round of SEC recognition, with the league honoring a pair of Vols for the kind of performance that helped swing one of the conferences biggest games of the season.
Ty Weathersby and Cooper Ranvier were both singled out after the rivalry win, giving Tennessee a little more proof that its best players showed up when the stakes were highest. Weathersby was one of the tone-setters up front, while Ranvier kept the Vols on the board early and provided the kind of scoring cushion that can matter in a game like that. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Just Made Alabama's Misery Impossible To Ignore
Alabamas latest trip to Knoxville did more than add another loss to the ledger. It stirred up a familiar kind of frustration around the Crimson Tide, with callers on The Paul Finebaum Show sounding off in the aftermath and turning the spotlight squarely onto the state of the program.
The anger centered on the current coaching setup, with Kalen DeBoer, Ryan Grubb and Greg Byrne all drawing criticism from a fan base that is clearly running out of patience. With Tennessee now having won three straight over Alabama in Knoxville, the conversation around the rivalry has shifted from one bad night to a broader unease about where the Tide are headed. [Read more 🡒]