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SEC Rundown: Will Gators Take a Bite Out of Georgia’s Title Aspirations?
With what is on the line when Georgia and Tennessee play in Week 10, neither the top-ranked Bulldogs nor third-ranked Volunteers can afford to slip up during the Week 9 games.
The matchup between Kentucky and Tennessee is the game to watch in the SEC in Week 9, while Georgia is expected to roll past the Gators.
If Georgia and Tennessee take care of business, the latest Game of the Year in college football will be set for the teams in Week 10.
The Ole Miss-Texas A&M matchup is another game that has lost some of its luster, as many of the Week 9 contests aren’t moving the needle.
Alabama, Louisiana State, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt have bye weeks.
Georgia and Tennessee remained first and third in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. Alabama comes in sixth, while Ole Miss tumbled eight spots to 15th. LSU jumped into the AP poll at No. 18.
According to the college football playoff odds, Georgia (+180) is tied with Ohio State for the best odds to win the national title. Alabama comes in third at +325, with Tennessee’s odds priced at +1600.
Georgia is priced at -115 to win the SEC title in the sportsbook. Alabama (+130) and Tennessee (+550) are the next closest challengers.
Let’s check the latest College Football picks, stats, injury reports, and College Football predictions. We’ve plenty of College Football expert picks for you to consider.
Game of the Week
Kentucky vs Tennessee
- Date, time (TV): Saturday, Oct. 29th, 7:00 p.m. ET (ESPN)
- Line: Tennessee -12½
This is a showdown between the two highest-rated passers in the SEC. Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker, currently listed second in the Heisman Trophy odds, is completing 71% of his passes with 18 touchdown passes and one interception. Kentucky’s Will Levis, who is being touted as a potential top 10 pick in the 2023 NFL draft, is completing 69.5% of his passes with 13 TD passes and five interceptions.
But the quarterbacks aren’t having all the fun. Tennessee receiver Jalin Hyatt leads the nation with 12 touchdown receptions. He is also the national leader with eight receiving plays of 40 yards or longer.
World of Hyatt 🌎#GBO 🍊 pic.twitter.com/HdrVzBpunx
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) October 26, 2022
Tennessee (7-0, 3-0 in the SEC) is allowing more passing yards per game than any other SEC team, while Kentucky (5-2, 2-2) is tied with Georgia for the SEC lead with just four TD passes allowed this season.
A concern for the Wildcats is that Kentucky has allowed 26 sacks, tying for the most in the SEC. The Wildcats are also averaging an SEC-low 3.1 yards per carry.
The teams will have a tough act to follow after last year’s 45-42 thriller when the two quarterbacks combined for 688 passing yards and seven touchdown passes.
Tennessee has covered against the college football odds in four of the last five meetings with Kentucky.
Rest of the Schedule
Arkansas vs Auburn
- Date, time (TV): Saturday, Oct. 29th, 12:00 noon ET (SEC Network)
- Line: Arkansas -3½
When looking at the college football betting lines, this has a chance to be one of the most competitive games of the week.
Raheim Sanders of Arkansas is the SEC leader with 870 rushing yards. He will be going against an Auburn defense that is allowing an SEC-leading 204.4 rushing yards per game. Auburn leads the SEC with 15 rushing plays of at least 20 yards and seven plays of 30 yards or longer.
Auburn completed 42.6% of its passes over the last three games, with one touchdown pass and four interceptions.
After missing the Mississippi State game, Arkansas quarterback K.J. Jefferson threw for 367 yards and five TDs in a win over Brigham Young.
Auburn’s Tank Bigsby is coming off a season-high 179 rushing yards against Ole Miss.
Auburn (3-4, 1-3) has lost three games in a row, while Arkansas (4-3, 1-3) has dropped three consecutive conference games, so one of these teams will be picking up a much-needed win.
Auburn is -11 in turnover margin, tied with Central Michigan for the most in the nation.
Arkansas’ Drew Sanders and Jordan Domineck are first and third in the SEC with 6½ and 4½ sacks.
Auburn has won six games in a row against Arkansas, with the average margin of victory being 24.2 points.
Florida vs Georgia
- Date, time (TV): Saturday, Oct. 29th, 3:30 p.m. ET (CBS)
- Line: Georgia -23
Just two years ago, Florida came away with a 16-point win over Georgia. Since then, Florida has been 14-13, and Georgia 25-1 as the Bulldogs continue to sit atop the SEC football standings.
A key for the Gators (4-3, 1-3) is that Florida has allowed an SEC-low five sacks this season, which could help quarterback Anthony Richardson as he goes against a Georgia defense that is rated first against the pass in the SEC.
Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett has just four TD passes in four SEC games. He is one of five players with more than 25 carries for the Bulldogs (7-0, 4-0).
Florida actually has more takeaways than Georgia this season.
This is the first time dating back to 1995 that Georgia is favored by more than 20 points against Florida.
Missouri vs South Carolina
- Date, time (TV): Saturday, Oct. 29th, 4:00 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
- Line: South Carolina -4
The Gamecocks are coming off back-to-back wins against Kentucky and Texas A&M. It hasn’t always been pretty, considering that South Carolina is seventh in the SEC in total defense and 10th in total offense. Still, a win would give the Gamecocks three straight SEC wins for the first time since 2013. The sportsbook favors the Gamecocks winning again. This could be a tricky game when it comes to college football picks and parlays
Counting non-conference wins against Charlotte and South Carolina State, South Carolina running back MarShawn Lloyd has seven scoring runs over the last four games.
A key for Missouri (3-4, 1-3) will be finishing drives. The Tigers have 14 touchdowns in 26 drives reaching the red zone and have come away with no points on eight drives into the red zone.
Keep an eye on Missouri linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper who has nine tackles for loss.
Missouri has won and covered each of the last three matchups.
Ole Miss vs Texas A&M
- Date, time (TV): Saturday, Oct. 29th, 7:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
- Line: Ole Miss -2
Before the season, this could have been viewed as one of the more compelling SEC games not involving Alabama or Georgia.
However, Texas A&M (3-4, 1-3) has been the most disappointing team in the SEC, while Ole Miss is coming off a loss to unranked LSU.
Ole Miss (7-1, 3-1) had a season-low 117 rushing yards against LSU. The Ole Miss defense has allowed 553 rushing yards and eight scoring runs over the last two games, so there is work to be done on both sides of the ball.
A lack of offense has been one of the issues for the Aggies, as they are 13th out of 14 SEC teams in total offense. Texas A&M’s rushing yards per game have dropped from 183 during the 2021 season to 121 this season.
The last seven meetings between the Rebels and Aggies have finished under the total.
