The college football season is still three months away but DraftKings is beginning to release way-too-early betting lines for the 2026 season including for Tennessee football’s rivalry matchup against Alabama.
Tennessee opened as 1.5-point underdogs against the Crimson Tide. DraftKings did not release an over/under for the game.
The Vols are looking to avenge last season’s 37-20 loss in Tuscaloosa when a 99-yard pick six late in the first half dug Tennessee a hole it couldn’t recover from. Tennessee has split its last four meetings against the Crimson Tide including victories at Neyland Stadium during the 2022 and 2024 seasons.
Tennessee faces off against Alabama on the Third Saturday in October. The Vols face Arkansas in Fayetteville the week before and travels to South Carolina the following week. Alabama hosts Georgia the week before its trip to Neyland Stadium and hosts Texas A&M the week after the Tennessee game.
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It’s a year of transition for Josh Heupel and Tennessee football. The Vols return eight of 11 starters from a productive offense a season ago. However, there’s major questions at quarterback where true freshman Faizon Brandon and redshirt freshman George MacIntyre are battling for the starting job.
Defensively, Tennessee has undergone a major overhaul after a poor showing a season ago. Heupel fired defensive coordinator Tim Banks and most of his defensive staff, hiring Penn State’s Jim Knowles and three other new defensive assistants.
The Vols overhauled much of the defensive roster. With a solid returning and incoming linebacker core as well as a revamped secondary, Tennessee could be sneakily good in the back seven. But the defensive line remains a major question mark, especially with incoming edge rusher Chaz Coleman’s status uncertain.
DraftKings has also faced the game lines for Tennessee’s matchups against Texas, LSU, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. The Vols are 7-point underdogs against Texas, 1.5-point underdogs against LSU, 9.5-point underdogs against Texas A&M and 3-point favorites against Vanderbilt.
