Last week was a pivotal week for the SEC. Not only did we find out that Auburn was not going to compete for a national title, we realized that Mississippi was the real deal.
The Rebels get a break this week with a home matchup against Vanderbilt, while Alabama will easily shake off a loss to Mississippi with a home game against Louisiana-Monroe. Covering the spread against the Warhawks may be difficult, with the Crimson Tide having to win by more than five touchdowns.
Those aren’t the games on the radar. Here’s two games that we won’t miss this weekend.
Tennessee (-1) at Florida
This spread opened at minus-3 in favor of the Gators. Then, the betting public jumped on the Volunteers, swinging this spread by four points, making Tennessee the favorite.
Florida has been solid this season on defense and last week against Kentucky, it didn’t allow the Wildcats to muster any kind of offense. The Gators are ranked 11th in total defense, allowing just 3.95 yards per play.
The Volunteers, on the other hand, aren’t ranked high in either total offense or defense, but the season hasn’t been all a loss. Tennessee is 2-1, and had it not been for a late collapse against Oklahoma, the Volunteers would be undefeated. The schedule for the Volunteers has been tougher and we’re impressed with the 29-point win against Bowling Green in the opener. Bowling Green has turned out to be pretty good, and the Volunteers made short work of the Falcons.
The betting public is on to something here. The Gators won’t do much on offense and the Volunteers should escape the Swamp with a win. — Go chalk with Tennessee
Missouri at Kentucky (-3)
How good is Missouri?
We’re not sure since it hasn’t played anyone yet. Last week, the Tigers defeated UConn in a game that turned back the clock on football in general by about 50 years.
The Tigers offense has been horrible against bad competition. Missouri’s offense is ranked 115th overall in total offense out of 127 teams. That number has come against Southeast Missouri, Arkansas State and Connecticut.
Kentucky, meanwhile, has won at South Carolina and competed against a good Florida team at home. We were a little underwhelmed with Kentucky’s offensive effort last week, but we’ll chalk that up to the Gators defense being an elite unit.
You know what we think about Kentucky. We think the Wildcats can compete with many of the SEC East teams, including the Tigers. — Go chalk with Kentucky
Other SEC games with a spread
Odds provided by Oddsshark
Central Florida at South Carolina (-14.5)
LSU (-25) at Syracuse
Louisiana-Monroe at Alabama (-37.5)
Texas A&M (-7.5) at Arkansas
Vanderbilt at Mississippi (-28)
Mississippi State at Auburn (-2)
