We’re less than 24 hours away from most of the SEC games this weekend, and just a few hours from the Friday night contest between Missouri and Kansas. As we do every week, let’s take a look at the line movement for the betting lines in every SEC game this week.
The slate
(Friday) Missouri at Kansas
Opening Line: Missouri -7
Current Line: Missouri -4.5
Oklahoma at Michigan
Opening Line: Michigan -2.5
Current Line: Oklahoma -4.5
Arizona State at Texas A&M
Opening Line: Texas A&M -14.5
Current Line: Texas A&M -14.5
Western Kentucky at Georgia
Opening Line: Georgia -35.5
Current Line: Georgia -40.5
Mississippi State at Minnesota
Opening Line: Minnesota -2.5
Current Line: Mississippi State -2.5
Alabama at Kentucky
Opening Line: Alabama -10.5
Current Line: Alabama -10
Delaware at Vanderbilt
Opening Line: Vanderbilt -21.5
Current Line: Vanderbilt -21
Campbell at Florida
Opening Line: Florida -49.5
Current Line: Florida -50.5
Tennessee at Georgia Tech
Opening Line: Tennessee -8.5
Current Line: Tennessee -11.5
Towson at South Carolina
Opening Line: South Carolina -43.5
Current Line: South Carolina -42.5
Louisiana Tech at LSU
Opening Line: LSU -31.5
Current Line: LSU -35.5
Ohio State at Texas
Opening Line: Pick Em
Current Line: Texas -1.5
Southern Miss at Auburn
Opening Line: Auburn -29.5
Current Line: Auburn -32.5
Charlotte at Ole Miss
Opening Line: Ole Miss -46.5
Current Line: Ole Miss -45.5
Arkansas at Utah
Opening Line: Utah -11.5
Current Line: Utah -12.5
Takeaways
This week looks much different than last week with 14 of the 15 games in the SEC that have had some sort of line movement. The only one that didn’t was Texas A&M who remained a 14.5 point favorite against visiting Arizona State. Once again, most of the movement wasn’t significant, and most of it favored the SEC. The LSU line moved a ton and shifted early after their incredibly dominant performance against Clemson last Saturday.
This weekend is uniquely special for the SEC’s big picture. In Week 1 only three teams played Power Four opponents with 13 of the 16 teams playing cupcakes from the G6 and FCS levels. In Week 2 we’ll not only get the first conference game of the year (Alabama at Kentucky), but we will also get seven of the other 14 games featuring the SEC versus another Power 4 opponent. That means tons of opportunities for resumé boosts and bragging rights.
There are three games specifically that standout with massive shifts in the line, including two that ended the week with a new betting favorite. First let’s talk about the Missouri-Kansas line that has moved throughout the week, and then moved a full point in favor of the home Jayhawks on Friday, the day of the game. Both teams played FCS teams a week ago, so there’s not much to go off of there. This is a brutal rivalry full of hatred on both sides, but it’s worth noting that under Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri has played five road games as a ranked opponent versus an unranked Power Four opponent. The Tigers are 5-0 straight up and 5-0 against the spread in those games. They’re also 11-3 in rivalry games under Drinkwitz.
The other two games are Mississippi State at Minnesota and Oklahoma at Michigan. It’s no surprise that the line shifted so far in Oklahoma’s favor after Michigan’s Week 1 scare against Western Michigan. The line ballooned to 5.5 in most places after being listed as a pick em just a week ago. Over the last 24 hours that number has fallen towards 4.5 in favor of the Sooners. How much of that is home field advantage? Who knows, but any time a line feels like a lock, as is the case here with Oklahoma, it’s usually a trap from the sportsbooks out in Las Vegas.
Finally there’s the Mississippi State-Minnesota game. This one is pretty surprising. A lot of people in the Southeast maybe aren’t surprised after seeing three starts from MSU’s quarterback Kamario Taylor. However, the Bulldogs are in a very unfamiliar spot. This is only the second time Mississippi State has been favored on the road in the last three years. Under head coach Jeff Lebby, they’ve only been favored six times in 25 games. It’s unfamiliar territory, but the few times they’ve been in this spot, they have thrived going 5-1 straight up and against the spread.
