SEC Week 12 Best Bets: Take Kentucky on Road

The SEC Championship Game is set between Alabama and Georgia, Yes, we were shocked to see those two teams being the last two teams standing as well. There are still three SEC teams that can become bowl-eligible and that makes this week’s game pretty important for that reason.

Among the three conference games, the headliner is clearly the showdown between Georgia and Tennessee. Georgia and Kentucky are both listed by the Las Vegas college football odds as road favorites.

When it came to our best NCAA football predictions, Auburn’s Keonte Scott kept Week 11 from being a complete washout thanks to his 74-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Georgia remains first in both The Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association polls. The Bulldogs also moved ahead of Ohio State in the College Football Playoff rankings. Alabama is eighth, Missouri is ninth, Ole Miss is 13th, LSU is 15th and Tennessee is 18th in the CFP rankings.

Georgia (+250) is behind Michigan for the best odds to win the national title. Alabama’s odds of winning the national championship moved from +800 to +600.

Here are some options to consider in Week 12 with some tempting options for the best college football bets for the Nov. 18 games.

Kentucky Ready to Take Care of Business

Part of the issue that comes with playing in the SEC is that games against ranked opponents seemingly come on a weekly basis.

Kentucky has lost four games and all have come against ranked teams. Now the visiting Wildcats are 1½-point favorites by our sportsbook against the unranked South Carolina Gamecocks.

When facing unranked teams, the Wildcats have won by 30, 11, 32, 17 and 21 points. That makes Kentucky a solid pick to cover as a road favorite against a 4-6 South Carolina team that has also dropped four games to ranked teams.

College Football Pick: Kentucky -1½ vs South Carolina

Georgia, Tennessee Volunteer to Light Things Up

With the departure of starting quarterback Stetson Bennett and some other key players on offense, it was hard to know what to expect when Georgia had the ball during the 2023 season.

Even when star tight end Brock Bowers missed two games and part of another, the Bulldogs continued to put up the points. Going into the final SEC regular-season game of 2023, Georgia has more touchdowns and points than a Tennessee team that led the nation in scoring offense a season ago.

Bowers returned last week and caught a touchdown pass. He hasn’t done much in two previous games against Tennessee, but that could change for a Georgia team listed by the NCAAF lines as a double-digit favorite..

Points have been scored on the opening possession in five straight Georgia games and don’t be stunned if that happens again, even if Tennessee looks to establish the running game in order to slow down the favored Bulldogs.

College Football Pick: The first points in the Georgia-Tennessee game will come in the first five minutes – YES +108

“The way (our RBs) prepare, that’s something that we always take pride in. That’s going to be no different this week.”

No. 18 @Vol_Football looking to get the run game back on track with top-ranked Georgia visiting Neyland Stadium on Saturday.https://t.co/WpS2ZbuTAc

— Tennessee Athletics (@Vol_Sports) November 15, 2023

LSU Tigers to Roar in Non-Conference Matchup

Why in the world is LSU playing Georgia State at this point in the season? The same goes for Alabama’s matchup with Chattanooga.

At least Georgia State plays at the Football Bowl Subdivision level and that is not the case for Alabama’s Week 12 opponent, so we’ll bite on this LSU matchup.

Quarterback Jayden Daniels is not going to put up another 606 yards of total offense, as he did a week ago against Florida. Still, the high-powered LSU team should be able to cover as 31-point favorites against a Georgia State team that just gave up 42 points to Appalachian State.

College Football Pick: LSU -31 vs Georgia State

Florida Looks to Stay with Red-Hot Missouri

Missouri opened up more than a few eyes with the way the Tigers dismantled Tennessee a week ago. Now comes a matchup with Florida.

The last six times that Missouri and Florida met, the game finished under the total, with the last two weeks being decided by a total of eight points.

Don’t be surprised to see Florida hang around in this matchup with Missouri.

College Football Pick: Either Missouri or Florida will score at least three times in a row – NO +239

Arkansas Looks to Get Going

It has been a tough go for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Running back Raheim Sanders, who was second in the SEC in rushing yards a season ago, has been slowed by injury and quarterback KJ Jefferson clearly missed his backfield mate.

The Razorbacks are tied with Mississippi State for last place in the SEC West Division with a 1-6 record. Due to a loss to the Bulldogs, Arkansas is considered to be the last-place team.

Arkansas gets a reprieve with a non-conference meeting against Florida International. FIU is eighth out of nine Conference USA teams in scoring defense and total defense.

Look for Arkansas to cut loose after a frustrating 2023 season before preparing to face Missouri in the regular-season finale.

College Football Pick: Arkansas-Florida International game to finish over the 49-point total.

Questions of the Day

The odds and predictions in the article are based on the time of writing and publication. They may differ as to when the actual event takes place.