Mississippi State has opened as a 30.5 point favorite over Southern Mississippi for the two teams' Saturday night season opener set for 6:30 p.m., according to the sports betting website BetOnline.com.
That line seems incredibly high to me, but it does make sense given USM's 1-23 record over the past several seasons. The Golden Eagles are riding a one game winning streak following a season-closing win over UAB last year, but still it seems as though oddsmakers are weighing in on the side of a big MSU victory to open the 2014 campaign.
While I'm not a betting man myself, I do think I would have a hard time placing money on MSU to win that big. 4+ touchdowns is a big margin of victory, especially when you consider that this is a season opener -- there will be kinks to work out -- and that this is a "rivalry", albeit a long-dormant one. With that being said, expect State to win by 100 then.
The Bulldogs and Golden Eagles will kick off the 100th season of football at Scott Field on Saturday night (6:30 CT) on the new SEC Network.
