The Volunteers are now big favorites.
It’s been an interesting week in the gambling markets, as Tennessee continues to surge. The Volunteers have seen tons of cash flowing in their direction, which has ballooned the Tennessee-NC State spread all the way out into the double digits.
Tennessee was favored by 4.5 points at this time last week. That number jumped out to 7.5 by Sunday, now it sits at Tennessee -10.
Why? Well it’s likely a combination of NC State’s struggles last week along with the brilliance we saw from Nico Iamaleava in the opener. The Wolfpack were tested by Western Carolina, while Iamaleava throttled the eighth-ranked FCS team in the country and wrapped up his day by halftime.
“He’s the real deal,” Chattanooga head coach Rusty Wright said. “I think the more football that young man plays … I think he fits really well in the scheme of what they want to do. I think he was what they’d been looking for at that spot. Got all the tools, ball comes out of his hand good. I just think the more football he plays, the better he will be. And of course he will because he’s, what, started two games I think now. I think middle of the year, he’ll be rolling pretty good.”
Iamaleava’s first test against a power four opponent went pretty well, too. The former five-star prospect took apart Iowa’s defense, doing most of his damage on the ground. Tennessee ended up winning that one 35-0, and now that we’ve seen a little more of Iamaleava’s arm in action, the hype is off the charts. That’s being reflected in this line moving out by almost a full touchdown.
Kickoff is set for Charlotte on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET. ABC will have the coverage.