by Kyle Hunter
Friday, Jul 26, 2024College football is less than one month away! It will be here before you know it. I’ve been doing deep dives into the teams one by one. I’ve recently looked closely at the SEC. It’s a major conference that gets a lot of coverage. Let’s take a look at 8 under the radar tidbits to help you bet the SEC in the season ahead.
8 SEC Tidbits- Early Season Betting
- LSU- Brian Kelly has been fantastic in the underdog role. How good? Kelly is 40-23-2 ATS in his last 65 games as an underdog. The Tigers have some tough spots in their schedule and will be an underdog some this year.
- Texas- Their first year in the SEC is crucial for the Longhorns. If they can fix their red zone woes this offense could be special. They were bottom ten in the nation in red zone efficiency on offense. Was it play calling or was it the players not coming through in key moments?
- Georgia- The Georgia Bulldogs have an absolutely amazing looking depth chart in the trenches. They have highly touted players three and four deep on both the offensive and defensive line. This is the reason I have them as the favorite for the national title this year. Georgia can suffer injuries in these spots and experience very little drop off.
- Tennessee- A defense that has a major strength and a major weakness. The Volunteers defensive line is excellent, and I find it to be underrated. They can dominant the weaker offensive lines that they go up against. On the other hand, the Volunteers secondary is a weakness. They brought in MTSU and Temple starters to help try to shore things up, but I’m not sure they are enough for the SEC.
- South Carolina- A couple key points here. First, The Gamecocks will likely run the football a lot this year with Sellers or Ashford at quarterback and Sanders and company at running back. The special teams will still be good, but I don’t think they will be quite as great now that Pete Lembo(special teams guru) left.
- Mississippi State- Jeff Lebby is the new coach, and he wants his teams to play ultra fast. The Bulldogs are playing at a major talent disadvantage though. They are learning a new offense and the wide receivers just aren’t up to par for what he needs. Will they continue to play fast even when they are taking their lumps?
- Kentucky- The Kentucky Wildcats once again have an elite defensive line. Mark Stoops is doing this year in and year out. They allowed just 3.3 yards per carry and had 33 sacks last year. I think they could be even better this season.
- Florida- This could be the most difficult college football schedule I’ve ever seen. I continue to think that Billy Napier is getting a bit of a raw deal from some Gators fans. However, I have to wonder if this team gets off to a slow start whether they will be able to keep battling all the way or not. The first few games are huge for both Napier’s future and the Gators chances this season.
