Music City Bowl – Auburn vs Maryland Free Picks
The 2023 Music City Bowl Odds Has Auburn Favored Over the Tau-Less Terrapins

Auburn and Maryland Will Meet For The First Time in 40 Years in the Music City Bowl
The 2023 Music City Bowl will miss one of its headliners as Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa has opted out of the bowl game against Auburn as he is headed to the NFL. The college football betting lines favor Auburn to top the Terrapins in the Music City Bowl.
Auburn and Maryland have met three times but the last matchup came in 1983.
The college football betting line made a big jump when news of Tagovailoa opting out of the Music City Bowl came out. At one point the Tigers were favored by two points and the line is now at -7.
Receivers Malcolm Johnson (six catches) and Ja’Varrius Johnson (19 catches) are among the Auburn players in the transfer portal for Auburn.
For Maryland, cornerback Tarheeb Still and receiver Tyrese Chambers have also opted out of the game. A quick peek at the NCAA football news shows that tight end Corey Dyches, linebacker Jaishawn Barham (37 tackles, three sacks), and cornerback Corey Coley (9 tackles) are in the transfer portal.
In his two seasons as an assistant coach at Florida and three years on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama, Maryland head coach Mike Locksley is no stranger to squaring off with Auburn.
Offensive lineman Izavion Miller is a Memphis native and the one of three Tennessee players on the Auburn roster likely to play the biggest role in this NCAAF matchup.
When looking at the CFB scores, Maryland has won its last two bowl games, while Auburn has dropped its last three bowl games.
Music City Bowl Information
Auburn Tigers vs Maryland Terrapins 
Records: Auburn (6-6) vs Maryland (7-5)
Day/Time:
Location: Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee
Stream: ESPN
Tau Time is Over at Maryland
It was quite a four-year run for Tagovailoa after he transferred in from Alabama with 11256 passing yards and 76 touchdown passes. The next stop for Tagovailoa is the NFL.
Billy Edwards is expected to start at quarterback for Maryland. Keep that in mind when looking at the 2023 Music City Bowl odds.
Tagovailoa (+10000) is tied for 11th in the odds of being the first quarterback selected in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Edwards had six touchdown runs in seven games for Maryland. He was just 4 of 10 passing for two yards and an interception.
Dyches was a reliable pass catcher with 49 receptions, but Edwards has most of its other receivers available for the game.
Jeshaun Jones leads Maryland with 53 catches and 747 receiving yards. Tai Felton is also over 700 receiving yards with a team-leading six TD catches while Kaden Prather has 41 catches for 609 yards.
Will the Tigers Roar In The Music City Bowl?
It is hard to know what to expect from this Auburn team.
A week after falling the New Mexico State 31-10, Auburn was in a position to pull off one of the top upsets of the college football season.
However, a miscue on special teams and an improbable late touchdown pass enabled Alabama to avoid Auburn’s upset bid.
The Tigers will look to build on that strong effort against the Crimson Tide. The 2023 Music City Bowl odds are favoring Auburn to do just that.
Auburn may lean on the running game once again, as the Tigers ranked last in the SEC with an average of 157.1 passing yards per game. That is the fewest in the SEC since the 2020 Kentucky team.
All three of Jarquez Hunter’s 100-yard rushing games came in the final five games of the regular NCAAF season for Auburn.
Auburn Looks To Snap Bowl Losing Streak
Even without Tagovailoa , Maryland could look to throw the ball around while Auburn is content with a lower-scoring affair.
Maryland averaged 35.4 points in the seven wins, with that number dropping to 21.4 in the five losses. By comparison, Auburn surrenders 31.3 points in the six losses and just 12.5 in the six wins.
Maryland has won just one of its last eight games when listed as the underdog, with the Terrapins 0-3 as the underdog this season. The Tigers are 10-1 outright in their last 11 games as the favorite, and that includes a 5-1 mark during the 2023 season when listed by the college football odds as the favorite. The Tigers were 3-3 against the spread this season as the favorite.
The total has gone over in four of Maryland’s last five games. The total is set at 45.5 for this matchup after going as high as 50.5. Go with this game to go over the total.
Auburn has covered in just one of its last eight games against Big Ten teams. Still, it is hard to pick against the Tigers in this matchup to win outright with -260 and to cover as seven-point favorites.
For NCAAF betting news, NCAAF analysis and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.