There are plenty of stakes for Tennessee football’s rivalry matchup with Vanderbilt in Neyland Stadium this Saturday. The top billing for the game has been the College Football Playoff implications at play. A win for the Commodores and they’ll finish the year 10-2 and with a good shot to be in the 12-team picture.
There are personal accolades at play, as well, though. Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia is one of the frontrunners to win the prestigious Heisman Trophy. Not only has he gone on a marketing campaign to win himself the award, but he’s one of the betting favorites to win the trophy.
According to FanDuel, his Heisman Trophy odds are sitting at +500, good for the fourth-highest mark in the country behind Fernando Mendoza of Indiana, Jeremiah Love of Notre Dame and Julian Sayin of Ohio State. In On3‘s latest poll, he is in second place to earn the hardware.
If Pavia is able to steer Vandy to another win, it may be enough to propel him into first place. However, if UT denies a win, it could take him out of the running.
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Pavia is also going to be forced to back up his bold claim from this offseason. In June, Pavia commented on the rivalry with Tennessee on the Bussin with the Boys podcast.
“Vanderbilt is going to run Tennessee after this year,” Pavia said. “This is gonna be the new staple of college football. It’s going to happen here at Vanderbilt. “Everyone wants to come to Tennessee (the state) because of Nashville. So they want to come to Nashville, so Vanderbilt. And then when we have the most money in NIL, why not come here? We literally just have to win this year and throughout the rest of the year, it’ll take care of itself.”
Tennessee is currently a 2.5-point favorite in the matchup. The Vols have the advantage of playing at home, which is traditionally thought of as a three-point swing in that team’s favor. This means on a neutral site, it’d likely be a pick-em game.
So far, the public likes the Commodores to cover. 66% of the money and 62% of the bets placed have been on Vanderbilt covering. This season, UT is 5-6 against the spread. VU is 9-2.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET and will air on ESPN.
