Staff Predictions for Alabama/Tennessee

The Tennessee Volunteers have a ton of momentum going into this rivalry game against the Alabama Crimson Tide after defeating the Auburn Tigers on the road last weekend.

Jeremy Pruitt is building his Volunteers team from the ground up and despite the victory over the Tigers last week, he faces one of his toughest battles in his former mentor and someone who doesn't lose to former assistant coaches Nick Saban. Tua Tagovailoa is ready to go in this game despite all the talk surrounding his knee and the Crimson Tide defense are starting to pick up strides.

Here is who the Tide 102.9/100.9 staff has coming out of the Third Saturday in October with the victory.

Martin Houston, Host of The Blitz

Despite the lopsided nature of the Bama vs Tennessee game, the Third Saturday in October still signifies one of the biggest rivalry games in college football!  Whether it’s because of the Bear Bryant vs General Neyland battle, the border war or fat Phil, Bama fans love to hate Tennessee. Now with Jeremy Pruitt at the helm and Tennessee coming off the upset win over Auburn a little more excitement has been pumped into the game. Then you add the uncertainty of Tua’s availability and this could be a much more interesting game than expected!  But that will not be the case for long, Bama w/ Jalen or Tua wins handily behind an explosive offense an improving defense which holds another opponent to 10 points or less.
Alabama 52 - Tennessee 10

Wimp Sanderson, Co-Host of Inside the Locker Room

I think Jeremy Pruitt will do an outstanding job at Tennessee. He may not win the press conference but will recruit at a very high level. The problem is for now there is a huge gap in talent.
Alabama 34 - Tennesse 7

Barry Sanderson, Co-Host of Inside the Locker Room

The rain could be a factor in this game. Tennessee hopes it pours to slow down the Tides offense. I look for Tua to get the start and once the Tide gets a comfortable lead he will head to bench. Alabama will then look to ground game and run the clock out.
Alabama 38 - Tennessee 13

Gary Harris, Host of The Gary Harris Show

The last time Alabama went into the Tennessee game with an 11 game winning streak against the Vols was 1982. Tennessee snapped the losing streak that Saturday afternoon in Knoxville with a 35-28 victory over the Tide in Coach Bryant's final game against the Vols. This year's Tennessee team is improving and will put up a fight but Alabama will make it 12 in a row on Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
Alabama 45 - Tennessee 17

Travis Reier, Host of Southern Fried Sports

A primary objective for former UA player and assistant coach Jeremy Pruitt in the early stages of his tenure as the head man at UT involves getting the Vols to a point where they’re competitive in this series on an annual basis. A big part of that will involve recruiting, something Pruitt will do more effectively than any of the post-Phillip Fulmer coaches before him. That won’t happen soon enough, however, to help him in his first crack at his old boss.
Alabama 45 - Tennessee 17

Ryan Fowler, Host of The Game

Vegas does not believe in Tennessee, neither do I believe that the Vols can keep this close. Alabama wins 12 straight over Tennessee.
Alabama 42 - Tennessee 10

Ben George, Digital Managing Editor

Yes, I think that Tennessee is playing better as the season moves along and Jeremy Pruitt is starting to instill some belief in his players, but let's not read too much into last week's results. Tennessee was +3 in the turnover margin and two of those Auburn turnovers led directly to touchdowns. The only thing that might make this game interesting is the health of Tua Tagovailoa and his three starting wide receivers. If for some reason they're all limited on Saturday, you might have an interesting first half. Otherwise, this one should be all Alabama like it has been in almost every game of this long winning streak.
Alabama 45 - Tennessee 10 

Josh Smith, Producer

James Hardy, Producer

Alabama heads to Knoxville with plenty of injury concerns. Although it appears that Tua Tagovailoa will see the field as the Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback, Saturday’s game is one where Jalen Hurts needs to be prepared to play. Even with Tua in the lineup, expect more carries from the stable of running backs to take pressure off Tua and limit his chances of further aggravating previous knee injuries. Although Tennessee showed promise for the future in a surprise win at Auburn, Jeremy Pruitt will see that he still has a long way to go in rebuilding the Volunteers into an SEC and national power.
Alabama 47 - Tennessee 16

Marquis Munson, Brand Manager and Producer

Rivalry games can be a tricky one to predict. On one hand you have a Volunteers teams with momentum on high after that win against Auburn on the road and they return home for a big rivalry game. However, this Crimson Tide team showed some signs of weakness and Tua's knee is still the question despite him being ready to start this game. But I think Saban knowing he's going to have to clean up a lot of things on defense and the second half offense before going to Death Valley in a couple of weeks, similar to the Missouri game last week, we will see a lot of development in the Crimson Tide.
Alabama 45 - Tennessee 16