Opening Odds: Mizzou heads to Starkville for SEC opener

Do you hear the sound of cowbells? Calling us south? Mizzou’s 27-17 win over Troy wasn’t an inspiring way to end non-conference play. But as Eli Drinkwitz pointed out in his post-game conference, winning college football games is hard. And it’s about to get a lot harder, with Mizzou headed to Missis

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Do you hear the sound of cowbells? Calling us south?

Mizzou’s 27-17 win over Troy wasn’t an inspiring way to end non-conference play. But as Eli Drinkwitz pointed out in his post-game conference, winning college football games is hard. And it’s about to get a lot harder, with Mizzou headed to Mississippi State for an SEC opener that suddenly looks a lot tougher than it did a few months ago.

While many of us would have fancied Mizzou’s chances over a Bulldogs team that has struggled in recent seasons,

the emergence of Kamario Taylor changes the equation. The sophomore QB looks like the real deal these days after leading his team to a 41-34 comeback win at South Carolina. He’s sporting an 11-1 touchdown to interception ratio and a whole lot of confidence as the Bulldogs try to fight their way out of the SEC cellar. So no pressure, right? Just go into an SEC stadium and humble the upstart star signal-caller. Easy.

FanDuel seems to agree that the task isn’t so simple, as they have Mississippi State as -3.5 favorites to open their Week 4 books. Personally, I’m a bit surprised it’s that low. Mizzou hasn’t looked overly convincing in any of its games thus far, and going to Starkville to open conference play is tough sledding. Still, Mizzou has elite talent where it matters. If they want to get that first CFP bid, going on the road and winning at Mississippi State is a must.

SEC games to watch in Week 3:

No. 1 Texas (-5.5) at Tennessee, O/U 57.5
South Alabama at Kentucky (-19.5), O/U 54.5
No. 8 Ole Miss at Florida (-2.5), O/U 58.5
No. 24 Oklahoma at No. 2 Georgia (-13.5), O/U 45.5
Vanderbilt at Auburn (-8.5), O/U 53.5
South Carolina at No. 10 Alabama (-12.5), O/U 55.5
No. 9 Texas A&M at No. 7 LSU (-7.5), O/U 53.5
No. 20 Missouri at Mississippi State (-3.5), O/U 58.5
Tulsa at Arkansas (-9.5), O/U 52.5

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