Tennessee vs. West Virginia Total Pick
The SEC will take on the Big 12 on Saturday when Tennessee takes on West Virginia at 3:30 p.m. ET. With the total sitting at 61.5, will the score sail over or fall under for bettors?
Game Snapshot
202 Tennessee Volunteers vs. 201 West Virginia Mountaineers
3:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, September 1, 2018
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Mountaineers are 10-point favorites to beat the Volunteers. The total, meanwhile, sits at 61.5 points. As of this writing, 51% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Volunteers.
Tennessee Volunteers
Tennessee sophomore RB Tim Jordan is listed as co-starter with Ty Chandler and Madre London for Saturday’s game against West Virginia. The Volunteers are planning to go with a running back by committee for the season opener. Tim Jordan, who averaged 4.7 yards on only 11 carries as a freshman, was listed first followed by Chandler and London. Fellow sophomore Chandler was more involved — 71 carries and 10 receptions — than Jordan last season, but London has by far the most experience. London, who transferred from Michigan State, has 230 carries under his belt, but has averaged just 4.0 yards per carry. This is a backfield that is a work in progress after losing Alvin Kamara, John Kelley, Joshua Dobbs, and Jalen Hurd in the last two seasons.
West Virginia Mountaineers
West Virginia freshman WR Dillon Spalding is expected to miss the upcoming season due to an ankle injury. The exact nature of Spalding’s ankle injury is not known, but Mountaineers HC Dana Holgorsen passed along to reporters earlier this month that the 6-foot-1, 216-pounder required surgery. West Virginia should be able to paper over the loss of the three-star freshman easily enough. They are loaded to the gills with receiving talent.
Betting Trends
Tennessee
The over is 9-0 in the Volunteers’ last nine neutral site games.
West Virginia
The over is 5-0-1 in the Mountaineers’ last six games played in the month of September.
Prediction
The Mountaineers were on the way to having a top-10 offense before Will Grier went down last year. With him back under center, as well as his receiving corps and line back as well, this WVU offense will be a bear to deal with every week. Meanwhile, expectations are low for Jeremy Pruitt’s first season in Knoxville. The Vols are a tough team to figure out as the offense attempts to craft a power run game. If the offensive line holds up, the receiving corps is exciting and this offense could turn some heads. While it’ll be close, I do like the score to go over the total.
College Football Week 1 Prediction: Tennessee/West Virginia over 61.5