The Auburn Tigers know that their NCAA football betting odds of making the College Football Playoff would be effectively nil if they were to suffer, at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs, a third loss this season. As it is, a 7-2 record gives them the proverbial snowball’s chance in Hades, given that no two-loss team has ever made the CFP. Notwithstanding that, ESPN analyst Booger McFarland says Auburn has “a better than 50/50 shot to get in” and all they have to do is beat Georgia two times and Alabama once. And maybe later they can jump the English Channel. Hey, when you’re five miles out over the English Channel, with nothing but sea underneath you, there is a very great impetus to stay in the air.
- Date: November 11
- Time: 3:35 PM
- Venue: Jordan–Hare Stadium, Auburn, AL
- Sportsbook online Vegas odds College Football Betting:
Georgia -2½ (-120) 47 (-110) -145
Auburn +2½ (EV) 47 (-110) +125
Is Gus running out of gas?
The Tigers enter a season-closing, three-game home stand that includes the biggest two games of the year; the 121st edition of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, and the Iron Bowl. Unfortunately, it would seem as if big games are of the biting-off-more-than-he-can-chew variety for Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn, who has a tendency to choke on and in them.
"I just don't trust Gus Malzahn to stay out of his own way in big games. He's proven this time & time again" – @BarrettSallee on #UGAvsAU pic.twitter.com/JIfRIZTfci
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) November 6, 2017
As Tigers fans fondly remember, Auburn went 12-2 in Malzahn’s first year in 2013, and appeared in the BCS National Championship Game. That was, of course, before the advent of the CFP, back when a team with two losses could and did challenge for the National Championship. Malzahn has yet to recapture the success of his maiden year in Auburn. The Tigers have won their last nine home games but have lost nine of their 11 versus Georgia. Win, lose, or draw, however, the NCAA football betting total has gone over in each and every of Auburn’s six conference games this season.
It’s Jake Fromm State Farm
It seems as if Georgia simply can do no wrong. Not only were the Bulldogs ranked No. 1 in the first college playoff poll but hey clinched the SEC East with two conference games still to play, thus returning to the SEC championship game for the first time since 2012. Even Jake Fromm, who pretty much lucked into the starting QB spot, has proven to be a breath of fresh air for Georgian’s offense, which had been criticized for being, like Michael Cera’s acting style, one-dimensional. Fromm has, like Luke Skywalker, brought balance to the force. Or was it Anakin? The point is that the Bulldogs are undefeated, including a 6-0 SU and 4-2 ATS conference record while outscoring opponents by a 29-point margin. Georgia is, additionally, 7-0 ATS in their last seven road games, 10-1 ATS in their last 11 on the road against a team with a winning home record, and 5-1 against the NCAA football betting spread in the last six meetings between these two programs.