ESPN models pick Tennessee narrowly at South Carolina and differ on several Week 8 games

ESPN's two main projection systems both favor Tennessee on the road at South Carolina this weekend, but only by a small margin. SP+ projects the No. 11 Volunteers to win by 5.0 points, while the Football Power Index has Tennessee by 3.4, making it one of the tighter calls among the biggest games on the Week 8 slate.

That view stands out because the betting line noted in the report actually favors South Carolina. Williams-Brice Stadium is known as a difficult place for visiting teams, and the Gamecocks have plenty at stake as head coach Shane Beamer continues to fight for his job in Columbia. The models still lean toward Tennessee, though by less than a touchdown, which points to a close game rather than a comfortable road win.

Elsewhere, the two systems mostly agree but not always by the same amount. Both favor Texas at home against No. 7 Ole Miss by roughly a touchdown, even after the No. 19 Longhorns dropped two straight games to unranked opponents, and both like No. 10 Utah over No. 14 Houston by about a touchdown, No. 18 LSU at Auburn, No. 15 Iowa at Minnesota, and No. 16 USC at Wisconsin. The widest gaps came in other matchups, with FPI far more bullish than SP+ on No. 1 Miami against Pittsburgh and on No. 6 Indiana at Michigan, while SP+ was much higher on No. 2 BYU at UCF.

For Tennessee, the projections offer a modest vote of confidence heading into a hostile road environment. They also underline the risk: when both models put the margin inside one score and the market leans the other way, there is little room for error if the Volunteers want the trip to Columbia to match the forecast.