Tennessee vs. Oklahoma Odds, Best Bets: High-Flying Vols Favored in Norman

Amid sky-high expectations for redshirt freshman QB Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee entered the 2024 season with as much hype as any team in the country.

So far, the Volunteers have more than lived up.

Their Week 2 showdown with then-ranked NC State was touted as a must-see matchup between two teams that finished 2023 at 9-4 and ranked in the top 25. Instead, Tennessee cruised to a 51-10 romp that vaulted it into the top 10 in the country.

The No. 6 Vols’ next test, on the road against No. 15 Oklahoma this weekend, stands out as the best matchup of a strong Week 4 slate in college football.

Coach Brent Venables’ 3-0 Sooners have played two AAC teams (Temple and Tulane), plus Big 12 foe Houston. While they’ve taken care of business, they haven’t been nearly as dominant as their opponent this Saturday.

Tennessee is favored by a touchdown entering Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. ET matchup on ABC. ESPN’s College Gameday will get the party started in Norman early on Saturday, which should only increase the excitement around Oklahoma’s historic first conference game as an SEC member.

Tennessee vs. Oklahoma Betting Odds

Below are the odds for Saturday’s game in three markets: the spread, moneyline and total.

$250 BONUS BETS

DRAFTKINGS SPORTSBOOK

$1,000 FIRST BET RESET (MUST USE CODE NEWSWEEK)

ESPN BET

UP TO $1,000 BONUS BETS

FANATICS SPORTSBOOK

$1,500 FIRST-BET OFFER

BETMGM

$200 BONUS OR $1,000 FIRST-BET SAFETY NET

BET365

$1,000 FIRST BET

CAESARS SPORTSBOOK

$200 BONUS BETS

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK

Tennessee vs. Oklahoma Betting Preview

Tennessee Volunteers Betting News, Analysis

Tennessee having an explosive offense under coach Josh Heupel* is nothing new.

The Volunteers finished No. 7 in the nation in scoring (39.3 points per game) in 2021, Heupel’s first year in Knoxville. They then led the country in 2022 with 46 points per game before last year’s Joe Milton-led O struggled — at least by this program’s recent standards — scoring 32 points per game.

Led by Iamaleava, a likely top-10 NFL Draft pick in 2026, Tennessee was widely expected to be one of the highest-scoring teams in college football this year. This team has managed to exceed expectations thus far, with 63.7 points per game entering Week 4.

Tennessee also appears much better along the offensive and defensive lines than it was in 2021 and 2022. The high-octane passing attack, coupled with a number of future pros on the O- and D-lines, makes Tennessee one of the early-season betting favorites to reach the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Below are Tennessee’s current odds to make the CFP at three top sportsbooks:

• Yes -200; No +155 (DraftKings)
• Yes -205; No +158 (FanDuel)
• Yes -200; No +160 (ESPN BET

Iamaleava is the first name on this roster that comes to mind for casual CFB fans. He’s not the only Vols player to watch on Saturday night, though.

Tennessee also features a defensive end, James Pearce Jr., who has a chance to be drafted No. 1 overall in 2024, a dynamic running back averaging 7.9 yards per carry (Dylan Sampson) and several linemen who could be drafted next April, including center Cooper Mays and DT Omari Thomas.

Saturday night will give us a better idea of whether Tenneesse is as good as advertised, but through three weeks, the Vols have been as dominant as any one in the country.

*In case you haven’t heard, Heupel is facing his alma mater, which he led to the national title as an All-American QB under Bob Stoops back in 2000. Heupel later served as OU’s offensive coordinator, but was fired by Stoops after the 2014 season.

Oklahoma Sooners Betting News, Analysis

Oklahoma is coming off a solid final season in the Big 12. The Sooners went 10-3 (7-2 Big 12) in 2023, with a loss to Arizona in the Alamo Bowl. Despite beating eventual Big 12 champ Texas during the regular season, OU did not reach the conference title game, and ended up finishing the year No. 15.

Failing to play for the conference title last year was a disappointment. Still, after a disastrous 6-7 record in 2022 — the first season with Venables as head coach — the improvement to 10-2 fueled hope for a strong debut in the SEC in Year 3 under Venables.

The biggest question mark for Oklahoma, who lost veteran QB Dillon Gabriel to the transfer portal, is under center. Jackson Arnold is a former five-star recruit who made six appearances as a freshman, including a start in the loss to Arizona.

Arnold put up underwhelming numbers each of the past two weeks. He had 174 yards, 2 TDs and 1 interception on 19-for-32 passing against Houston in a 16-12 win in Week 2, and he went 18-for-29 for 169 yards, 1 TD and 1 pick against Tulane last week.

The biggest concern for Oklahoma has to be its pass blocking — the Sooners have given up nine sacks on the year (three apiece in each of their first three games). The issues protecting Arnold, who was also sacked three times in last year’s bowl game, have come against defenses without nearly the pass rush that Pearce and the Vols are bringing to Norman.

If OU can’t give Arnold time to throw, it could be in for rude welcome to its new conference.

Defensively, Oklahoma improved significantly from 2022 to 2023, but still finished just 49th in the country in scoring defense. Linebacker Danny Stutsman and safety Billy Bowman Jr. are both All American-caliber players, and they’ve led three strong performances to start the 2024 campaign.

This D hasn’t faced anything that even resembles the Tennessee offense, though. Given Arnold’s struggles so far this year, the OU defense is going to need an incredible effort in order for this team to upset the Volunteers.

Tennessee vs. Oklahoma Prediction, Best Bets

This version of Tennessee looks terrifying, and we’d probably be leaning toward the Vols even if Arnold had started the year by posting numbers similar to Iamaleava’s.

But with an overhauled, inexperienced offensive line struggling to protect Arnold and the offense as a whole experiencing growing pains under new OC Seth Littrell, Oklahoma will struggle to keep pace with the Volunteers, no matter how raucous Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is at kickoff.

As long as Iamaleava looks like himself while playing in a truly hostile atmosphere for the first time in his career, Tennessee should be able to not only get the road win, but cover in Norman.

Given Tennessee’s depth and how aggressive it stays on offense, regardless of the score, a small play on the Vols to cover two touchdowns on the alternate spread is worth a flier.

Tennessee vs. Oklahoma Best Bets

• Tennessee -6.5 (-110 at ESPN BET)
• Under 57.5 (-110 at bet365)
• Tennessee -13.5 (+170 at DraftKings)

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