Tennessee vs. Arkansas score prediction by expert football model

No. 12 Tennessee and Arkansas square off from Rocky Top in college football’s Week 7 action on Saturday. Here is the latest prediction for the game from an expert model that simulates games and projects scores.

Tennessee is just a field goal away from being undefeated after its loss against Georgia, but improved to 4-1 on the year after defeating UAB and Mississippi State in response, although the Vols needed overtime to win the latter game on the road.

Arkansas made an early-season coaching change after dumping Sam Pittman following an ugly loss to Notre Dame, with former Hogs head coach Bobby Petrino back in the saddle and with a chance to prove he should have the job again.

What do the analytics suggest for when the Volunteers and Razorbacks meet in this SEC clash?

For that, let’s turn to the SP+ prediction model to get a preview of how Tennessee and Arkansas compare in this Week 7 college football game.

Tennessee vs. Arkansas score prediction

As expected, the models are signaling the Vols are a big favorite over the Hogs.

SP+ predicts that Tennessee will defeat Arkansas by a projected score of 38 to 24 and will win the game by 13.5 points in the process.

The model gives the Vols a confident 80 percent chance of outright victory.

SP+ is a “tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency” that attempts to predict game outcomes by measuring “the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football.”

How good is it this season? So far, the SP+ college football prediction model is 144-152 against the spread with a 48.6 win percentage. Last week, it was 25-25 (50%) in its picks against the spread.

How to pick the game

The books call Big Orange a solid favorite over the Razorbacks this weekend.

Tennessee is a 12.5 point favorite against Arkansas, according to the updated game lines posted to FanDuel Sportsbook entering the weekend.

FanDuel lists the total at 68.5 points for the matchup.

And it set the moneyline odds for Tennessee at -450 and for Arkansas at +350 to win outright.

If you’re using this prediction to bet on the game, you should take...

Tennessee -12.5
Vols to win -450
Bet under 68.5 points

The game’s implied score suggests a comfortable win for the Volunteers.

When taking the point spread and total into consideration, it’s implied that Tennessee will defeat Arkansas by a projected score of 41 to 28.

Computer prediction

Most other analytical football models also favor the Vols over the Razorbacks.

That includes the College Football Power Index, a computer prediction model that uses data points to simulate games 20,000 times to pick winners.

Tennessee is a notable favorite in the matchup, coming out ahead in 82.6 percent of the computer’s simulations of the game.

That leaves Arkansas as the presumptive winner in the remaining 17.4 percent of sims.

How does that translate into an expected margin of victory in the game? This model foresees a closer result, but still in the Vols’ favor.

Tennessee is projected to be 10.8 points better than Arkansas on the same field in both teams’ current form, according to the model’s latest forecast.

How accurate was the College Football Power Index computer prediction model last Saturday?

Projecting the games a week ago, the Power Index models correctly predicted 74 percent of all games and hit 38 percent against the spread.

Predicting a total of 799 college football games a year ago, the Power Index computers were correct for 70.964 percent of their final picks, ranking eighth nationally out of 55 other football models.

Over the last decade, the Football Power Index has proven correct on 75 percent of FBS college football game predictions, including in 73 percent of matchups when it favored a team with at least 70 percent likelihood to win.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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