X
Skip to content

NCAAF Betting: Week 1 SEC Rundown

The college football season is underway and those who bet online know that it hits full speed with a large slate of games this weekend. We had a tiny taste with a handful of games last Saturday and we’ll get a few dozen games on Thursday and Friday, but the main course is still to come. Let’s see what the Southeastern Conference is up to on Saturday, plus a prime-time nationally televised game on Monday night.

Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks vs Kentucky Wildcats

Odds: Kentucky -31

Isaiah Spiller from Texas A&M Aggies runs for a touchdown against the North Carolina Tar Heels of the Capital One Orange Bow
Mark Brown/Getty Images/AFP

The Wildcats are unquestionably a lot better than Louisiana-Monroe, but Kentucky has never been known for having an especially powerful or effective offense under head coach Mark Stoops. Kentucky builds its team and its success on its defense. Low-scoring games with a ball-control running attack create the formula the Wildcats want. Is Louisiana-Monroe bad enough that Kentucky can win by 35 points even with its limitations on offense? Yes, but in a Week 1 situation, with players shaking off the rust and learning how to play their roles on the field in live-game action after a disrupted pandemic season, Kentucky’s offense might not be in top gear.

Another fun note about this game is that the Warhawks are coached by Terry Bowden, who went unbeaten in the SEC as the head coach of Auburn. He more recently guided Akron – a generally unsuccessful program – to a bowl game victory. He is a solid coach and he will probably have a few tricks up his sleeve in this game, probably enough to keep the margin under 30 points.

Rice Owls vs Arkansas Razorbacks

Odds: Arkansas -19.5

The Arkansas Razorbacks were 3-7 last year, but they made improvements not indicated in their final record. Arkansas was a lot tougher, more resilient and more competitive than it was the previous season. That toughness is likely to carry over into 2021, and given that Rice faces lots of questions on its roster – including at quarterback, where the Owls plan to rotate two players in this game – Arkansas has a very good chance of authoring a blowout.

Alabama Crimson Tide vs Miami Hurricanes

Odds: Alabama -19.5

This matchup in Atlanta is another neutral-site game for Nick Saban and Alabama. The Crimson Tide love playing these games. They have played in either Atlanta or Arlington, Texas, to start a number of their seasons over the past 10 years. They have won every time, almost always by a large margin. Miami has quarterback D’Eriq King, a dazzling playmaker who won a number of games with fourth-quarter comebacks last season. He is the one reason Miami has a puncher’s chance in this game. However, he is coming off an injury suffered in Miami’s bowl game late last year. He needed several months of rehab. If he is significantly limited in his mobility or otherwise unable to run at full speed, that immediately reduces the sphere of what he is capable of and Miami needs King at 100 percent to have any shot at the upset. Moreover, Miami lost three pass rushers to the NFL – Greg Rousseau, Jaelan Phillips and Quincy Roche. There are tons of questions on the defensive side of the ball for the Hurricanes, and Alabama – though having to replace Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith and quarterback Mac Jones, among others – has the depth and talent to reload and give Miami’s defense headaches all game long. ‘Bama in a blowout in a neutral-site season opener is hard to bet against.

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs vs Mississippi State Bulldogs

Odds: Mississippi State -23

The Mississippi State Bulldogs are coming off a 4-7 season. They have a new quarterback in Will Rogers. This seems like a situation in which Mississippi State is a very unproven program and does not deserve the respect accorded by a 23-point line. Louisiana Tech has plenty of questions in its own right, but it has a quarterback – Austin Kendall – who previously played at Oklahoma and West Virginia. Kendall should be able to score a decent amount of points to keep this game fairly close. Mississippi State will win, but by 10 points, not 25.

Central Michigan Chippewas vs Missouri Tigers

Odds: Missouri -14

The Missouri Tigers were a lot better last year than many people expected. They upset LSU, they were competitive for most of the SEC season and they did not quit at any point in their journey. They should easily handle Central Michigan.

Akron Zips vs Auburn Tigers

Odds: Auburn -37.5

The Tigers have a new head coach in Bryan Harsin, who came over from Boise State after Auburn fired Gus Malzahn. Harsin has a lot to fix with his new team, but Akron is expected to be a terrible team and sit at the bottom of the Mid-American Conference. Even with all of Auburn’s many problems, this is a game the Tigers can win by 40 or more points.

Florida Atlantic Owls vs Florida Gators

Odds: Florida -23.5

The Florida Atlantic Owls have been a contender in Conference USA the past few years, previously under coach Lane Kiffin and now under Willie Taggart, who worked at Oregon and Florida State before moving to FAU. Florida should have a good – not great – team this season. Losing tight end Kyle Pitts and quarterback Kyle Trask should limit what the Gators achieve on offense. In a season opener, Florida’s offense doesn’t figure to be supremely explosive, enabling FAU to stay somewhat close and cover the college football spread.

Georgia Bulldogs vs Clemson Tigers

Odds: Clemson -3

This is the really big game in Week 1 between a pair of top-five teams in Charlotte, N.C. No other game will have similarly huge College Football Playoff implications. The winner gets the inside track to the playoff while the loser will have a very small margin for error the rest of the season. The big thing to note here is that Georgia is missing at least three receivers. Arik Gilbert and George Pickens, in particular, were supposed to be central cogs for the Dawgs’ offense and they won’t be available. That will limit the options for Georgia quarterback and Heisman Trophy contender J.T. Daniels. Clemson is a lot healthier, with receiver Justyn Ross medically cleared to play after missing the 2020 season with a significant injury. Injuries figure to be the difference, enabling Clemson to prevail.

Kent State Golden Flashes vs Texas A&M Aggies

Odds: Texas A&M -29

The Aggies have a lot of experience on their roster and a lot of starters returning. They should be able to crush a Kent State team which is not expected to do much of anything this season.

LSU Tigers vs UCLA Bruins

Odds: LSU -3

The UCLA Bruins pounded Hawaii by 34 points in their opener last weekend, but Hawaii played poorly and will not resemble what LSU can bring to the table. LSU had a bad 2020 season but finished strong with wins over Florida and Ole Miss. The Tigers figure to be much this season and they will bring tons of fans to Los Angeles for this game. LSU wins, so take them with your sports bets.

Ole Miss Rebels vs Louisville Cardinals

Odds: Ole Miss -10.5

The Louisville Cardinals had a horrible 2020 season. Everything went wrong. The attempt to rebuild begins now for coach Scott Satterfield, but he goes against an Ole Miss offense which scored 48 points against Alabama last year and was very potent under head coach Lane Kiffin and quarterback Matt Corral. The gap in firepower between these teams is large. Ole Miss wins comfortably on Monday night in a neutral-site game at Atlanta.

Did you find this article interesting?

Comments (0)