ESPN’s SP+ projects the final score of Tennessee at Mississippi State
By Jacob Moss
Published:
The No. 15 Tennessee Volunteers are set for another big SEC test this weekend against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, and they’ll be hitting the road this time to play in one of the more underrated environments in all of college football.
ESPN analyst Bill Connelly recently put out his SP+ projections for all of Week 5’s biggest games, and this included a projection for who the winner will end up being between the Vols and the Bulldogs.
The SP+ is an analytical model that utilizes several key statistics and historical trends to both curate power rankings for ESPN and project the outcome of any given matchup from week to week.
When it comes to this Saturday’s clash between Tennessee and Mississippi State, Connelly’s model has Josh Heupel‘s squad edging out the Bulldogs on the road by a final score of 32-24.
This means that the SP+ is not only projecting the Vols to secure the much-needed in-conference road win, but also to cover the -7.5 point spread they will enter the game with as well.
The SP+ might have Tennessee winning, but history has shown that Heupel has a tendency to get caught napping on the road. As such, the Vols will have to be careful not to fall into what could be a huge trap game.
