Stats say Vols should take care of Vandy and bowl eligibility tomorrow

Here it is, y'all. The last game of the regular season, and hopefully the last time in a long time we have to wonder at Thanksgiving whether it's too soon to put the qualifier "regular" in front of the word "season." Of the eight Lunatic Fan's List of Demands, only two have been crossed off the list, but we can cross off two more tomorrow with a win against Vanderbilt to get bowl eligible, which would position us well for nabbing three of the last four next season.

So how big of a threat to our mental health and well being is Vandy? Let's take a look.

Of all of the teams the Vols have played this season (excluding FCS UTC), the Commodores look like they're actually the worst. No team ranks lower in Rushing Offense, Passing Offense, Scoring Defense, or Scoring Offense. The teams that are next-best in those categories? Kentucky, Florida, South Carolina, and Utah St./Kentucky. Yeah, the Florida game didn't turn out how we wanted it to, but their Passing Offense wasn't the problem.

What about those areas in which Vandy isn't the worst team we've played this season? Well, their rushing yards allowed per game is only eight yards and sixteen yards better than Arkansas State and Kentucky. The next best team is Georgia, but they're so much further up the ladder that it probably doesn't matter. And in Passing Defense, they're only better than Utah State while the next best comp is South Carolina against whom the Vols got 301 yards passing.

So if you're not feeling worried about this game, welcome to the club. Things can happen in rivalry games, yes, but let's hope that the new Vols close this one out like they should and then get to sit and wait for their bowl pairing.

Go Vols.

					Comps				Result against Comps		Guess
					Closest Lower		Closest Higher		Closest Lower	Closest Higher
					Team		Team		Team	Team
	Rank	Value	Rank	Value	Rank	Value	Rank	Value
Tennessee rushing offense vs. Vanderbilt rushing defense	100	131.8	86	185	Ark. St./KY		Georgia		Ark. St./KY	Georgia	180
					93/98	193.2/201.5	54	156.2	168/214	117
Tennessee passing offense vs. Vanderbilt passing defense	52	240.4	67	229.8	Utah St.		South Carolina		Utah St.	South Carolina	300
					79	234.5	45	214.9	273	301
Tennessee rushing defense vs. Vanderbilt rushing offense	71	165.6	114	108.5	None		Kentucky		None	Kentucky	100
							75	154.3		94
Tennessee passing defense vs. Vanderbilt passing offense	35	202.3	106	181.8	None		Florida/Georgia		None	Florida/Georgia	130
							105/89	181.9/200.5		76/147
Tennessee scoring offense vs. Vanderbilt scoring defense	73	27.9	104	34.1	None		South Carolina		None	South Carolina	45
							93	30.8		42
Tennessee scoring defense vs. Vanderbilt scoring offense	52	24.5	118	17.2	None		Utah St./Kentucky		None	Utah St./Kentucky	10
							70/69	28.1/28.2		7/16