SEC Week 8 Football Odds: Sixth-Ranked Alabama Heavy Favorites Over No. 24 Mississippi State

Either Missouri or Vanderbilt Set to Pick Up First SEC Win of 2022

Ole Miss-Louisiana State Game Might be Best Week 8 Matchup in SEC

After a wild Week 7 in the Southeastern Conferences when five SEC teams scored at least 45 points, things could be a little quieter this weekend when looking at the SEC Week 8 football odds.

There is one matchup of ranked teams with Mississippi State traveling to meet an Alabama Crimson Tide team that hasn’t lost back-to-back games since the final two contests of the 2013 season.

The Ole Miss-LSU game could be an intriguing affair. However, don’t expect much movement in the SEC standings this week

Alabama (+135) only trails defending national champion Georgia in the odds to win the SEC title.. Tennessee comes in at +600.

According to the college football playoff odds, the Crimson Tide (+450) rank fourth in the odds to win the national title while Tennessee (+1800) is sixth.

Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Arkansas and Auburn all have bye weeks.

Georgia is first in both national polls. Tennessee Volunteers jumped three spots to No. 3 in the Associated Press ranking and went from eighth to fourth in the American Football Coaches Association poll. Alabama fell from No. 1 to No. 6 in the AFCA poll and checks in at No. 6 in the writers’ poll. Ole Miss is seventh in both rankings while Kentucky is also in the top 20.

Game of the Week

Mississippi State Bulldogs vs Alabama Crimson Tide

Date, time (TV):
Line: Alabama -21

Alabama’s secondary looks to bounce back after Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker threw for nearly 400 yards to lead the Volunteers past the Crimson Tide last week. It won’t be much easier on Saturday when Alabama faces a Mississippi State offense led by junior quarterback Will Rogers, the SEC leader with 2,313 passing yards and 23 touchdown passes.

The good news for Alabama is that only four SEC teams have allowed more passing yards this season than Mississippi State. Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young threw for a season-high 455 yards in the Tennessee game so his injured shoulder must have been feeling better.

Mississippi State Bulldogs‘ defense will also be tested by Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who has 544 yards from scrimmage over the last three games.

Not only has Alabama won 14 games in a row against Mississippi State, but the Crimson Tide has also outscored the Bulldogs 115-16 in the last four matchups.

Other Games to Watch

UT Martin Skyhawks vs Tennessee Volunteers

Date, time (TV):

This is pretty interesting scheduling. Rather than facing the lone Championship Subdivision team on its NCAA football schedule before conference play begins, this game comes after the Volunteers’ huge win over Alabama.

It would only be natural for the Volunteers to have a little bit of a letdown. While UT Martin (4-2) has some talented skill position players, the size and speed of Tennessee (6-0) should be hard for the Skyhawks to deal with.

The last time these teams met, Tennessee won 50-0 in the 2010 season opener and ran for more than 300 yards. Things will get much tougher for Tennessee with the next two games against No. 19 Kentucky and No. 1 Georgia.

&

Ole Miss Rebels vs Louisiana State Tigers

Date, time (TV):
Line: LSU -2.5

This has the potential to be a barnburner and could be the most competitive game when looking at the SEC Week 8 football odds.

Ole Miss (7-0, 3-0) leads the SEC with an average of 271.4 rushing yards per game. LSU (5-2, 3-1) has allowed 263 and 210 yards on the ground in its last two conference games.

A key for the LSU Tigers has been its red-zone defense as opponents have scored touchdowns on just nine of 20 drives that reached the red zone.

Also keep an eye on that matchup up front. Ole Miss is tied for second in the SEC with 19 sacks while only Kentucky has allowed more sacks than Louisiana State among SEC squads.

Ole Miss is looking to win back-to-back games against LSU since the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

Four games in a row between the Rebels and Tigers had finished under the total before the 2021 meeting fell well short of the 77-point total.

Vanderbilt Commodores vs Missouri Tigers

Date, time (TV):
Line: Missouri -14

One of these teams will be picking up their first conference victory of the season.

Vanderbilt Commodores (3-4, 0-3) is last in the SEC in total defense, allowing 493.7 yards per game and 6.95 yards per play; however, Missouri (2-4, 0-3) is hardly an offensive juggernaut with the second-fewest touchdowns scored in the SEC this season.

Missouri Tigers quarterback Brady Cook has one touchdown pass over his last three games. Vanderbilt’s A.J. Swann hasn’t thrown an interception, but he has been held under 200 passing yards in three of the last five contests. Vanderbilt does have the leading tackler in the SEC as Anfernee Orji has 71 stops.

Missouri is 5-2 in the last seven matchups with Vanderbilt, however, Vanderbilt has covered against the college football odds in three of the last four meetings.

Texas AM Aggies vs South Carolina Gamecocks

Date, time (TV):
Line: Texas A&M -3

Who had the Texas A&M Aggies heading into Week 8 as the lowest-scoring team in the SEC?

The Aggies (3-3, 1-2) have had just 17 drives that reached the red zone in the first six games of the season and just nine of them ended with touchdowns being scored.

South Carolina Gamecocks (4-2, 1-2) has allowed just eight offensive plays of 30 yards or longer so the bend but don’t break approach on defense seems to be working. South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler leads the SEC with eight interceptions thrown. It could be Haynes King quarterbacking Texas AM for the rest of the 2022 season.

Texas AM has outscored South Carolina 122-23 over the last three matchups. When looking at the college football point spreads, the total of 44.5 in this game is the lowest among the Week 8 games involving teams from the Power-5 conferences.

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