The Missouri Tigers would love nothing more than to send Gary Pinkel out with a trip to a bowl game.
They can accomplish that goal if they beat the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday in what will be Pinkel's last home game before he retires.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Tennessee Volunteers -9
Missouri Tigers +9
Over/Under 39.5
ODDS ANALYSIS
There's a lot of emotion in this game, knowing that it is the first back on campus for the Tigers since their stand against racism and the fact that it is Pinkel's last home game. However, Tennessee is actually getting the nod by a relatively huge margin at -8.
The total is low with both of these offenses struggling, but has been bet up to 42.5.
KEY MISMATCH
We've got an issue with the Tennessee ground game in this one against Missouri. The Tigers are holding opponents to just 3.0 yards per carry this year and 113.7 rushing yards per game.
Tennessee can certainly run the ball with Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara, and Joshua Dobbs is going to get his on the ground as well on scrambles.
Hurd is the workhorse, though. He hasn't averaged more than 5.1 yards per carry in any game since beating up Western Carolina. If he can't get anything going, the Vols could struggle to score.
KEY STAT
12.4 – The number of points per game the Volunteers are averaging in the second half. They've been significantly better in the first halves of games at 20.9 points per game. Missouri is allowing just 14.7 points per game overall and 6.3 in the second half.
BETTING ANGLE
The Tigers have gone 3-0 SU and ATS in this series since joining the SEC. They were dogs twice against the Vols on Rocky Top, only to pull off the upset in both instances. In the one meeting here in Columbia, Mizzou took down UT 31-3 in a game which was never close.
Missouri has put up at least 410 yards in all three of those games, but it's highly unlikely that happens again in this one, knowing that it is averaging fewer than 300 yards per game.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
Drew Lock isn't all that good, but the Tigers are winning in spite of that. The real key is Russell Hansbrough who has suddenly become a workhorse here in spite of the fact that he is just 5-foot-9 and doesn't even weigh 200 pounds.
The Tennessee offense is going to be hard-pressed to score in this game against the ferocious Missouri front seven.
But sometimes, emotion is more important than anything else. BYU was about as public as it could get at the start of the week after the news that the Tigers were essentially boycotting all football activities, but you had to know that they were going to be ready to play once they came back to the practice field.
This is equally an emotional spot for Mizzou, and the fans at Faurot Field know just how important this college football game is. Tennessee has already locked up its bowl bid, and though every game is important, some just aren't as important as others.
That emotion should override a good UT team in this one, as the Tigers pick up a win to go bowling.
Missouri 23, Tennessee 16
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