There is no denying that the SEC is the best conference in college football. At the same time, there is no denying those numbers are not AS GREAT when you take away the games played in the friendly confines of southern weather and fans. For example, Tennessee has only lost two season openers in the last 16 years and both of those times were games on the West Coast against Pac 10 schools. To take it even a step further, the mighty Volunteers are 3-9-1 when traveling to the West Coast to play football. Right now the line for this one has Tennessee sitting at a 7-point favorite as they make another West Coast trip and try to keep the SEC flavor alive after the "southern boys" handed out beatdowns on Thursday Night Football.
On and off paper, I do not see how Tennessee does not blow the Bruins out? On paper, UCLA is not returning a ton of starters and also is trying to work in the new QB against an SEC powerhouse. Off paper, a friend close to the UCLA program said their interior line looks bad; REALLY bad. He went as far as saying he does not see how Tennessee does not DESTROY the Bruins this weekend. Obviously, we know how stuff like that (rumors and second hand information) goes, a coin flip at best when it is all said and done.
For all you SEC and Pac 10 gurus, how do you think this game will play out? Will history hold true for the Vols when traveling away from home territory or will the current state of affairs lead to the Bruins getting rolled in front of the West Coast faithful? I guess that is why they call it gambling.....