25% of the 2024 college football season is in the books and so far I've picked winners in the SEC correctly 39 times in 44 games. (89%) including going 11-2 last week.This week, Alabama and Georgia are idle before their much anticipated contest next weekend.
Arkansas at Auburn
The Razorbacks roll into Auburn, AL on Saturday to face the Tigers in a game that should turn out to be very competitive. Each team is 2-1 on the year so far and neither team was picked to be in the SEC's upper echelon this fall.
Auburn is favored by four points in this one which is more pivotal for Hogs' coach Sam Pittman. An Arkansas win would take some of the heat off at least for a while but...Auburn is simply a little bit better football team.
Auburn 33 Arkansas 24
Florida at Mississippi State
Florida head coach Billy Napier now has the hottest seat in the Southeastern Conference. He was booed unmercifully following last week's loss to Texas A&M in Gainesville. Most SEC pundits are predicting he won't last the rest of this season. On the other side of the field is Mississippi State and the Bulldogs were blown out last week by unranked Toledo 41-17. Fact is...these are two of the worst teams in the SEC and if it were possible, they would both lose.
Mississippi State 27 Florida 17
Ohio at Kentucky
The Wildcats came close to one of the biggest upsets in recent memory last week as they lost 13-12 to the Georgia Bulldogs. Coach Mark Stoops pulled out all the stops in trying to pull the upset but he came up just a bit short. For other teams in the SEC, he may have exposed some weaknesses in the Georgia squad. This week the 'Cats are a three touchdown pick over Ohio as they look to improve on their 1-2 start.
Kentucky 35 Ohio 14
UCLA at LSU
LSU hasn't played well yet this season. They were able to escape South Carolina with a win after falling behind 17-0 but they were very fortunate. LSU is favored by three touchdowns or more but is it the LSU we thought it would be in the pre-season or is it the one that fell behind the Gamecocks or the one that lost to Southern Cal in the opener. Coach Brian Kelly has been frustrated so far and so have the Tiger faithful. They're ranked 16th in the country but they have a long way to go if they make the playoffs.
LSU 38 UCLA 23
Vanderbilt at Missouri
Just when you thought Vandy had broken through and become a decent football team, they lose to Georgia State last week in Atlanta. The Commodores were favored by eight points and lost 36-32. That loss started the Vandy fans to grumbling once again on social media...even after they had started the season 2-0 and excited the fan base. Missouri struggled a bit last week before coming from behind to beat Boston College. Mizzu will win this week pretty handily.
Missouri 40 Vanderbilt 22
Georgia Southern at Ole Miss
One reason media folks are so high on Ole Miss making the playoffs is the fact that the Rebs schedule is pretty light. Ole Miss is 3-0 with wins over Middle Tennessee, Furman and Wake Forest. This week Georgia Southern provides the competition which isn't much because the Rebs are favored by 35 points. It remains to be seen if playing these light weights will hurt Ole Miss when they start playing better teams. That won't happen until October 12th when Ole Miss plays at LSU.
Ole Miss 54 Georgia Southern 14
Akron at South Carolina
Last week the Gamecocks blew a 17 point lead at home before losing to LSU 36-33. Before the Bengal Tigers rallied for the win, South Carolina looked like a team that should be ranked in the top 25 poll. But...the Gamecocks were outscored 36-16 down the stretch and lost the game. This week the Akron Zips provide the competition which won't be a lot. The Gamecocks should roll to an easy win this week.
South Carolina 38 Akron 14