Auburn football inexplicably opened up as a slight favorite against LSU for their Week 5 matchup under the lights at Jordan-Hare Stadium, but the betting public has evidently preyed upon that potential sportsbook gaffe and the odds have course-corrected since.
LSU is now a -7.5 point favorite, which makes sense considering their lone loss was a special teams mistake at the last second to a Power Five program and AU’s dismantling at the hands of Penn State was an embarrassment that has Bryan Harsin’s seat practically on fire.
The momentum difference between the teams couldn’t be any more glaring. LSU defeated Mississippi State in a two-score effort that solidified that they were no longer the cellar-dweller of the SEC West in Week 3. Mizzou handed Auburn football their Week 4 matchup on two different occasions in what truly should have been a loss for the Plains Tigers.
Oh, and this feels like an important fact as well: Auburn is 0-4 at the spread this season.
What Auburn football has going for them against LSU
The Saturday experience is oftentimes predictable when it comes to the Alabama’s, Georgia’s, and Ohio State’s of the world, but when it’s two teams with similar talent and an underdog with home-field advantage, all bets — or rather, a large number of bets — are off.
Jayden Daniels has been proving capable of being the type of dual-level threat through the air and on the ground that can undo a defense, and the Bayou Bengals’ own point-prevention unit has held up well enough against spectacular signal-callers like Will Rogers (Mississippi State) and Jordan Travis (Florida State). Given the Auburn football secondary’s carelessness against San Jose State’s dual-threat QB Chevan Cordeiro, and the AU offensive line’s apparent aversion to protecting anybody in the backfield, there’s not many reasons to predict a post-odds shift upset.
Except it’s Jordan-Hare Stadium on a Saturday night, and the Tigers have their backs up against the wall with it being obvious that Bryan Harsin’s job is on the line. Perhaps the Pat Dye Field voodoo that caused Mizzou to literally drop the ball inches from the end zone in overtime and miss a field goal from slightly longer distance than an extra point will rear it’s ugly (or beautiful) head once more.