Week 8 in the SEC brings plenty of trap games, including No. 2 LSU at Mississippi State, No. 9 Florida's road showdown against South Carolina and No. 1 Alabama's rivalry game against Tennessee (which actually won a game last week).
Elsewhere, No. 10 Georgia hopes to avoid a surprising skid in a home tilt against Kentucky, and No. 11 Auburn will head west to take on struggling Arkansas in a battle of SEC West teams.
What will go down Saturday in the SEC? Let's make some picks straight up and against the spread.
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2019 record straight up: 44-18 (71.0%)
2019 record against the spread: 32-30-1 (51.6%)
No. 2 LSU at Mississippi State (+18.5): LSU played Florida last week in a massive showdown and hosts Auburn next week. It's a trap! Even if the Tigers come out flat, they'll still roll a Bulldogs team that is giving up 8.4 yards per pass attempt -- 13th in the SEC. The combination of quarterback Joe Burrow and a stud receiving corps that includes Justin Jefferson and Ja'marr Chase will light up the Bulldogs, render running back Kylin Hill a non-factor and force quarterback Garrett Shrader to keep up. He doesn't have a chance. Pick: LSU (-18.5)
No. 9 Florida at South Carolina (+5): The Gamecocks are everybody's darling after upsetting Georgia, but the offense is still a question mark even though quarterback Ryan Hilinski will be back. But will he be at 100%? Will it even matter against this Gators secondary? Nope. Florida quarterback Kyle Trask was money last week until coach Dan Mullen inexplicably put Emory Jones in for a full series. The Gators went three-and-out, LSU took control and Trask was put in an untenable situation for the rest of the game. Mullen won't try to prove that he's the smartest man in the building on Saturday and Trask will lead his team to a double-digit win. Pick: Florida (-5)
Tennessee at No. 1 Alabama (-34.5): It seems like Alabama has a dial-a-score game every week. This one will be against one of its heated rivals. Tennessee quarterback Brian Maurer is questionable after suffering a concussion last weekend, and Jarrett Guarantano doesn't exactly scream stability at this point in his career. Yes, Alabama's defense has been suspect. But it sacked Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond five times last week and forced him into a situation where he had to pass to keep up. Tennessee can't do that. This one will get sideways late in the second quarter and the second-teamers hang on to give the Crimson Tide a cover. Pick: Alabama (-34.5)
Kentucky at No. 10 Georgia (-25): The Bulldogs were ultra-conservative on offense until they had to open things up, and it cost them a win last week. It's been that way all season, so it's unlikely that offensive coordinator James Coley will suddenly change his stripes. Quarterback Jake Fromm will play smart, not put his team in jeopardy and lead his team to an easy win. But 25 points? Nah, not even against a Kentucky team that has had massive quarterback issues to the point where wide receiver Lynn Bowden has played quarterback. Pick: Kentucky (+25)
No. 11 Auburn at Arkansas (+19.5): It's been almost two weeks since Auburn lost a heartbreaker to Florida, which is the perfect time to hit the reset button with quarterback Bo Nix and address a running back spot that will be without JaTarvious Whitlow for the foreseeable future. This is pretty easy to handicap. Arkansas' offense has been dreadful and coach Chad Morris won't settle on a quarterback (Nick Starkel or Ben Hicks). Is it suddenly going to have success against an Auburn defense that is one of the best in the country? No way. If Auburn can score 27 points, it'll cover with ease. Pick: Auburn (-19.5)
No. 22 Missouri at Vanderbilt (+21): The Tigers find themselves in first place in the SEC East, and now get to face off against a Commodores defense that just gave up 34 points to lowly UNLV. They're not going to stop one of the best running backs in the SEC in Larry Rountree III and a resurgent Kelly Bryant who topped the 300-yard mark through the air last week against Ole Miss. As long as Missouri takes the field, they'll surpass that number. Pick: Missouri (-21)
Texas A&M at Ole Miss (+6.5): This is one of those lines that makes your head turn like a confused dog. When that happens, it means somebody knows something. Texas A&M can't run the football, and Ole Miss' offense is averaging 476 yards per game in October and has the ability to put teams into shootouts in a hurry. In the end, it'll come down to which quarterback do you trust more -- Rebels' signal caller John Rhys Plumlee or Mond? I'll go with Mond, but there is a case to go the other way. This one will go down to the final seconds, Mond will make a few plays late and A&M will escape with a win ... but not a cover. Pick: Ole Miss (+6.5)
So which teams should you back in Week 8 of the college football season? And which national title contender goes down hard? Visit SportsLine now to see who wins and covers every single FBS matchup, all from the model that has returned over $4,200 in profit to $100 bettors on top-rated spread picks over the last four seasons.