NCAAF teams
KC Joyner, ESPN Staff Writer 7y

Don't be surprised if Tennessee upsets Alabama

College Football, Alabama Crimson Tide, Tennessee Volunteers

It's the surprises -- the upsets, the unexpected conference champions, the dark horse Heisman Trophy contenders -- that enliven each college football season.

Each week, this column will attempt to identify those surprising results before they happen.

Alabama heads into a Week 7 matchup at Tennessee sporting the nation's longest win streak (18 games) as well as a nine-game win streak against the Volunteers. Combine this with Tennessee coach Butch Jones' saying this Alabama team is the best Crimson Tide club the Volunteers have faced since he joined the program, and it's easy to see why Alabama is a 13-point favorite in this contest.

There's no way Tennessee can pull off an upset here, right?

Actually, there is a path to victory the Volunteers can follow, and it's a much wider path than generally thought.

(Note: Unless otherwise specified, all the metrics detailed below are from Power 5 contests, and the associated rankings are among qualifying Power 5 teams.)

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