Missouri vs Tennessee football GameDay: info, where to watch, predictions

Week 11 is here already eh? Wow. As I rumble through October writing basketball previews I think the season goes from Week 1 to Week 11 in a blink. But here we are and it’s Tennessee week!

The Vols and Tigers are not what you might call rivals, aside from just being in the same division for the last 12 years. The two teams had not met prior to the classic that emerged from Neyland Stadium in November of 2012. A 51-48 overtime barn burner and Missouri win capped off three very sour seasons under the ‘leadership’ of Derek Dooley. If anything, Tennessee is the prime example of how making smart coaching hires is a crapshoot, and it can also cripple even the best of programs. Under Phil Fulmer, the Vols were considered one of the elite programs in the SEC. They were National Champions in 1998, led by Peyton Manning. But in 2007 Fulmer went 5-7, his second season with that record in four years, and he was pushed out. UT then turned to Lane Kiffin, who coached one season before burning relationships and bridges to take the USC job (where he was fired in year 4 after 5 games). Dooley followed Kiffin, and he was bad. Butch Jones took over and had two 9-4 seasons before getting fired after a 4-6 start to the 2017 season. Tennessee then hired Jeremy Pruitt who broke lots of recruiting rules and still didn’t win many games.

Now the program is led by emperor penguin Josh Heupel. Things have been very good. Heupel is a smart coach and led Tennessee to an 11-2 record a year ago, which was the programs first double digit win season since 2007, Fulmer’s penultimate season. Now in his third season, Heupel has the program on good footing. They’re deep and talented on defense, strong up front on offense and a top 20 program again.

Despite these fluctuations, Eli Drinkwitz has yet to have beaten Tennessee. Overall Missouri is 6-5 against UT, but they’ve lost the ast four games. After the win in Knoxville in 2012, Mizzou won the next two meetings. They lost with Drew Lock as a freshman starter in 2015, and again his sophomore season when the defense gave up 63 points. Before winning 50-17 in 2017, and 50-17 in 2018. The 2017 game put the final nail in the Butch Jones coffin, he was fired after the game.

So despite the win column being close to even between these two teams, it’s rare they play a close game. The Vols have scored 375 points, Missouri has scored 336, thats an average of about 34-31. But Missouri’s average margin of victory is 21 points. The Vols average margin of victory has been 24 points. There have been only three games where the margin of victory was a possession or less: 2012, 2014, and 2019. In 2014 Mizzou won in Knoxville by 8 points, and in 2019 the Vols won in Columbia by 4 points.

So there’s no telling what is going to happen on Saturday. I’m rooting for a Mizzou blowout to even the series at 6. Maybe they’ll win by 39 points and even the points scored on each side because that would be just weird enough of a result to fit right within this series.

Missouri-Tennessee football: Time, Location

TIME: 2:30 p.m. CT

DATE: Saturday, November 11, 2023

LOCATION: Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium; Columbia, MO

Missouri-Tennessee football: Follow the game, TV Channel

TELEVISION: CBS

STREAM: Paramount+

TWITTER: @MizzouFootball

FACEBOOK: MizzouFootballShowMe

ESPN+: ROCKMNATION

Missouri-Tennessee football: Betting odds, predictions

As of Friday evening, Missouri is a 2 point underdog to Tennessee, according to DraftKing’s Sportsbook. The total points (over/under) is 57.5.

RockMNation has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though RockMNation may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.