Mississippi State vs. Auburn Spread, Line, Odds, Predictions, Picks, and Betting Preview

Mississippi State (5-4) heads to Jordan-Hare Stadium to take on the Auburn Tigers (6-3) on Saturday, November 10, in a matchup between two teams sitting in the middle of the pack in the SEC.

The Bulldogs have looked improved in year two under Mike Leach but have suffered a few close losses in SEC play (LSU by 3, Arkansas by 3 in heartbreaking fashion last week). It starts offensively, where quarterback Will Rogers is third in the nation with 3,307 passing yards. He's an efficient operator of the Air Raid offense, completing 75.2% of his passes.

Mississippi's State's defense is what should keep this game close. The rushing D has been solid all year, allowing only 3.6 yards per carry. If they can look more like they have throughout the season rather than last week when allowing over 200 rushing yards to Arkansas, they should fancy their chances at an upset against a ground-centric Auburn offense. Two of the Tigers' losses came when held below 100 rushing yards (46 against Georgia, 73 last week at Texas A&M), so this game could boil down to whether or not they effectively establish the run.

Auburn's schedule can be picked apart even though they played in the SEC. The wins over Arkansas and Ole Miss are nice, but both came in advantageous scheduling spots. They've faltered against tough competition, scoring 13 total points against Georgia and Texas A&M. While Mississippi State doesn't qualify as elite competition by any stretch of the imagination, this will be one of the better defenses that Bo Nix and company have faced in 2021.

We'll take the points in what appears to be a relatively close matchup. Mississippi State is 4-1 ATS in its past five games, and we'll look for that trend to continue.

Pick: Mississippi State +5.5