Tennessee Vols gifted an early dose of motivation in advance of massive clash with Alabama

It's never too early to get some good ol' motivation and run with it.  That'll be the case for the Tennessee Volunteers next week when they take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in Knoxville.

The Vols and Tide are both coming off an extremely disappointing Saturday last weekend, both falling to unranked teams on the road as healthy double-digit favorites.  That's especially the case for Alabama, who lost 40-35 at Vanderbilt as a 22.5-point favorite.

Still, it doesn't seem as though that dissuaded the oddsmakers very much.  The books have installed the Crimson Tide as slight favorites over the Vols. FanDuel Sportsbook has Alabama as a 2.5-point favorite as of Friday. DraftKings Sportsbook has Alabama s as 1.5-point favorite. Vegas Insider shows an opening aggregate odds of Alabama by two points among the books who've released odds for Week 8.

That's certainly a curious line to give.  Tennessee has been a Jekyll and Hyde team at home and on the road under Josh Heupel.  Before last Saturday, they'd been seen as a true playoff contender in college football.  Now, that golden shine has dulled some.

Of course, the same can be said for Alabama before tripping and falling on its face against Vanderbilt.  A 41-34 win over Georgia less than two weeks ago seems way back in the rearview mirror now.

But it clearly isn't long ago for the oddsmakers, and as a result, Heupel and the coaching staff have something they can tape onto the bulletin board next week once preparation for the game begins.  And don't think that stuff doesn't matter.  Coaches find motivation in every little thing to use to fuel their team.  I doubt the Vols being 8.5-point underdogs to Alabama in 2022 didn't slip past Heupel's mention at some point during the week.

There's still football to be played and business to take care of first.  The Vols have Florida on Saturday, a game that for a rare change they're favored heavily to win, but one that's almost always a headache (and heartache) for the Big Orange.  Alabama is a big favorite against South Carolina.  If the teams take care of business, then the odds should remain close to the same.

And Tennessee would then look to send a favored Alabama team home from Knoxville with a loss for the second straight time.

Related: Former Georgia quarterback makes a strong plea to Josh Heupel ahead of Tennessee Vols' clash with Florida Gators