Three undefeated battles make up your SEC Week 5 Preview

Alabama host Ole Miss this week

  1. 12 Ole Miss at No.1 Alabama (-14 1/2 O/U 79 1/2): This is one of the best SEC boxing matches of the season: It’s Lane vs Nick. High Octane vs High Octane. Heisman Bryce vs Heisman Bryce. And it’s the 3.30, so the Tuscaloosa crowd should be nicely oiled for that, too. People have tried the read-through on the Florida game, seeing how Florida progressed into the game in The Swamp, and nearly came away with the win. They have said about how Matt Corral could well lead the Rebels onto a shock victory at the House of Saban. But here’s a counter: We haven’t see Corral given any pressure in his first three weeks. If Corral’s anything like he was last season – where he was a very competent QB but made a ton of mistakes playing ‘hero ball’ when faced with a side who took away the deep ball (like Arkansas did), then Ole Miss is in trouble. And we don’t know what Ole Miss’ defense is like, either. Will they be enough to stop the Tide? We think not. PREDICTION: Alabama 48, Ole Miss 38.
  2. 8 Arkansas at No. 1 Georgia (-18 1/2 O/U 48 1/2): Georgia and Arkansas fans both griped that the game was not at night, therefore taking away the glow of potential excitement for this match-up. But since Arkansas hasn’t been in the Top 10 since God was a boy, this game won’t need any introductions. Against Georgia, we expect Barry Odom to rush 3 and drop 8 in an effort to stop JT Daniels throwing the ball, but will they be able to stop the RBs White and Cook, who you felt can demolish anyone in college football? You feel that Arkansas would have lost/ come closer to losing against A&M had the Aggies simply given the ball more to Isaiah Spiller, who was beginning to grab chunks before they inexplicably gave the ball back to Zach Calzada, who was excellent in finding grass. If we’re really going to measure things up, Georgia’s got the best defense in the country, and try and stop Jordan Davis from a) Killing KJ Jefferson and b) stuffing the run. But he’ll do both. PREDICTION: Honestly, it won’t be that close. For once, Lee Corso’s call for the Dawgs to win works. Georgia 31, Arkansas 14.
  3. 22 Auburn at LSU (-3 1/2 O/U 54 1/2): Apart from last year’s blow-out, the Auburn – LSU has always been a game of batshit-craziness, and this year shouldn’t be an excpetion. Both teams aren’t going to be competing for a SEC West title let alone anything more than that. Bo Nix’s replacement, TJ Finley will probably start in Death Valley on Saturday night. He used to play for LSU, before transferring in the Spring after it became obvious he was surplus to requirements. LSU, on the other hand, should be throwing the ball a lot to Kayshon Boutte, and let him do the work against an Auburn secondary which is – to be charitable – flawed. Mind you, so is LSU’s. This is going to be a lot of fun. PREDICTION: LSU 38, Auburn 34.
  4. 10 Florida (-8 1/2 O/U 55) at Kentucky: Kentucky’s offense is absolutely putrid at the moment. So putrid is it that they should be 2-2 at the moment, not 4-0. Will Levis is fine-but-not-great at QB, but we haven’t a clue why the team’s offensive line, which has potentially two first-or-second round picks on it, has been so trouble. So you can expect Chris Rodriguez to get a lot of the ball. On the other hand Florida is looking better and better, and well worth their No.10 ranking. Dan Mullen has realized the limits of Emory Jones and is playing to them, while he can also use the outright speed of Anthony Richardson if he needs a QB that can cause Ds a problem. PREDICTION: Florida shows Kentucky’s weakness. Florida 35, Kentucky 20.
  5. Mississippi State at No.15 Texas A&M (-7 O/U 45 1/2): OK, so it’s patently obvious that Texas A&M has no offense. Then again, nor does Mississippi State. Andy Staples joked on his SEC podcast this may be a game where both quarterbacks throw 65 times, but there’s relatively little scoring. You can expect Mississippi State to try and be stout against the run, and Texas A&M to continue being plain, er, stout. But one thing’s for certain: This will not be pretty to watch. PREDICTION: Texas A&M 27, Mississippi State 14.
  6. Tennessee at Missouri (-3, O/U 65): This will be fun, only because both defenses can’t actually, er, play defense, and both offenses can actually put up some points. We expect Missouri’s RB Tyler Badie to run wild, but we believe that Tennessee’s offense, led by Hendon Hooker, who’s going to be hitting JaVonta Payton and Telus Jones all day long. PREDICTION: The Big 12 game of the day. Tennessee 45, Missouri 41.
  7. Troy at South Carolina (-7 O/U 43 1/2): South Carolina’s offense has made the Gamecocks utterly unwatchable this season. But Troy’s defense – which has been stout this season (including only giving up 21 to Liberty) – has been one of the major stories of the school’s making many believe that a ‘shocker’ may be in the cards. PREDICTION: Gamecocks prevail. South Caroliina 24, Troy 20.
  8. UConn at Vanderbilt (-14 1/2 O/U 51 1/2): A game that some said shouldn’t be broadcast on TV, the match-up of two of the worst programs in college football will probably set football back to a time before when it was rugby. But such is the paucity of UConn that Vanderbilt will score a lot here. PREDICTION: Vanderbilt 41, UConn 14.
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