Tennessee/UCLA betting line, predictions & odds
August 29, 2008
Every sports bettor will want a piece of the Tennessee/UCLA betting line Monday, September 1st. This is the final chance for sports enthusiasts to beat their sportsbooks and bookies with week 1 college football betting. Larry Cook and his Info Plays team releases an 8* Vols/Bruins ATS Winner on ESPN that can be bought here for just $14.95. We won’t give away which team we are taking in this article, but we’ll at least fill you in with what you can expect to see on the field Monday.
A loss in last year’s season opener to the California Bears will have Tennessee ready to go in week 1 against the UCLA Bruins. They’re while spring and fall practices have been planned to get off the a much quicker start this season. The Vols finished with a 9-4 record and the No. 12 ranking in the AP polls after beating Wisconsin the Outback Bowl. After losing 45-31 to Cal in the season opener, the Vols went on the following week to get throttled at Florida 59-20. Tennessee finished 2-4 away from Knoxville, becoming the first team at the school to lose that man road games since the ‘81 Vols’ squad.
The most telling stat is that Tennessee gave up 39.5 points/game on the road, while holding foes to just 18.3 points/game at home. The Vols are picked to finish 3rd in the East this season behind Georgia and Florida, and even accomplishing that won’t be an easy feat. UCLA has won five of its last six games at the Rose Bowl against ranked opponents, so it won’t be easy for the Vols to win and cover the 7.5-point spread.
Think the Vols can win by at least 8 points Monday? Trust your gut and bet Tennessee -7.5 at Sportsbook.com here!
Tennessee’s offense will feature some new players under new offensive coordinator Dave Clawson. Quarterback Jonathan Compton takes over for Erik Ainge who had a great career at Tennessee. Compton will get to play behind five returning starters on the offensive line, a dream come true for most quarterbacks in their first year as a starter. Clawson will guide Compton to get the ball to his two biggest playmakers in seniors Adrian Foster and Lucas Taylor. Foster rushed for 1,193 yards and broke the goal line 12 times as a junior. Taylor had a team-high 73 receptions for 1,000 yards last year.
The Bruins will also look a lot different, starting with new head coach Rick Neuheisel. He’s a former Bruins’ quarterback, and he brought over Norm Chow to be the offensive coordinator. Chow had success at USC, but failed as a coordinator in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans last year. But some guys just aren’t cut out for the pros, and Chow should be one of the top coordinators in the Pac-10 yet again.
Chow has had to deal with injuries to Bruins’ quarterbacks this offseason. Patrick Cowan was expected to lead UCLA at quarterback, but injured his knee in spring practice and will miss the entire 2008 season. Ben Olson hurt his foot on August 9th and is expected to miss two months, leaving UCLA thin at quarterback. The Bruins’ success against Tennessee will fall into the hands of third-stringer Kevin Craft. He’s a junior college transfer from San Diego State and if he doesn’t produce, that will open the door for redshirt freshman Chris Forcier.
Rick Neuheisel is still optimistic about his team’s chances to surprise some folks, despite his gaudy quarterback situation. He’s happy with the way his kids have worked in the offseason. It’s tough for any opponent to win at the Rose Bowl, UCLA’s home field. So Tennessee could be in for a dog fight again to start the season.
Got a good feeling the Bruins can keep this one close, perhaps pulling off the upset? Then your BEST ODDS are at BetUS.com right now with UCLA as +8.5-point underdogs!