Tennessee's 26-10 win over Alabama at Neyland Stadium on Saturday was more than a rivalry win. It makes the No. 14 Volunteers a real contender for the 12-team College Football Playoff. Fans had their victory cigars lit as the Vols moved to 6-1, and on the same day, Georgia and Texas, the two programs picked at midseason to run the SEC, both lost.

Adam Sparks of the Knoxville News Sentinel, in a story also carried by The Tennessean, reported that Josh Heupel asked to stay on the field a little longer to watch his players celebrate. It was his third home win over the Crimson Tide, after 2022 and 2024. Tennessee has now won three of the last five meetings, its best run in the series since the mid-2000s.

The defense did most of the work. Under first-year coordinator Jim Knowles, Tennessee held an Alabama offense that came in scoring more than 44 points a game to 10, and one of those scoring chances started with a turnover inside the Tennessee 20. The Vols have now held four SEC opponents to 20 points or fewer. On offense, George MacIntyre threw for 197 yards in his second start since freshman Faizon Brandon was hurt. That should settle the quarterback question for now. DeSean Bishop has run for 517 yards and six touchdowns over the past three games. Sports Illustrated pointed to a 15-play, 72-yard drive that took 9 minutes, 32 seconds off the clock while the defense kept Alabama's offense on the sideline.

Alabama fell to 5-2 with back-to-back losses, 20-17 to Georgia and now this one. The Tide host Texas A&M next and are favored there at -614 on Novig. See /teams/alabama.

What it means for South Carolina

The numbers show how much Tennessee depends on its defense. The Vols have allowed 103 points in seven games, about 14.7 per game, and just 41 combined in their last three SEC wins over Auburn, Arkansas and Alabama. The offense has slowed down after a fast start. It scored 143 points in the first three games against Furman, Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State. In four games since, it has scored 17, 24, 24 and 26. The only loss was 20-17 to then-No. 1 Texas.

South Carolina is 3-3 and 1-3 in the SEC. Still, the Vols' last trip to Williams-Brice Stadium, in 2022, ended in the upset loss that knocked them out of the playoff race. Heupel was already looking ahead. "Every week in this league is a new season," he told the News Sentinel.

The board on /odds/tennessee-at-south-carolina-2026-10-24 has Tennessee favored, but only slightly for a top-15 team playing a .500 opponent. Novig has the Vols at -122 and South Carolina at +117. The best South Carolina price is at DraftKings, at +130. The spread is Tennessee -2.5 at theScore Bet and South Carolina +3 at DraftKings. The total sits between 51.5 and 52.5. Sportsbook hold on the moneyline runs from 3.5% to 4.8%, so the five venues are close but not identical. A total in the low 50s is more than Tennessee's defense has allowed lately. It expects the Vols' offense to need more than the 26 points it scored against Alabama.

More on the Vols at /teams/tennessee.