Vegas SEC Predictions
Arkansas at No. 6 Auburn
Line: Auburn by 20.5
Gus Malzahn and the Auburn Tigers probably feel like the most disrespected team in college football after coming within a few seconds of a national championship against the best team in college football last year. How can you say a team that did that and returns 16 starters doesn’t deserve a Top 5 preseason ranking or a No. 1 vote from anybody? The amount of luck it took the Tigers to get to the championship game last year is always brought up, and while Georgia was indeed a miracle, who cares if the game against Alabama was luck? This was a team that was destroying everybody and Auburn went toe-to-toe with them the entire game before winning in the end. The Tigers will have to deal with Nick Marshall not starting this game after his offseason issues, but there’s still a lot of talent, and they’ll be looking to gain back some respect.
Betsided
Arkansas, meanwhile, has fallen to the bottom of the SEC after two awful years. Bret Bielema returns a very young and talented team with a strong running game, a pretty good defense, and hopefully some improvement in quarterback Brandon Allen. Running backs Alex Collins, Jonathan Williams, and Korliss Marshall will be the anchors of this team, and Bielema hopes it will lead to a much better group than the one he fielded last year. Even if it is in the loaded SEC West.
Prediction
In a manner similar to Alabama-West Virginia, Arkansas deserves some sympathy. This is a much better Auburn team than is being talked about in the media, and now the Tigers are angry and hungry to prove themselves once again. Add to that the fact that Williams, whom the Razorbacks want to rely heavily on, is not 100 percent, and it’s easy to see how this will be a blowout. Arkansas is definitely a better team than it was last year, but it won’t show on Saturday. Auburn wins in a blowout, and my condolences to everybody in Fayetteville.
Auburn: 45 Arkansas: 14