Mississippi State Opens as 23.5 Point Favorite Against Southern Miss

Early betting lines for Week 1 SEC football games were released this weekend. According to vegasinsider.com, Mississippi State opened up as a 23.5 favorite against the Golden Eagles.

After last year's 49-0 shellacking, it's probably safe to say Southern won't come close to covering that spread -- regardless of the fact the game is in Hattiesburg this year.

The spread will likely increase closer to game time, but several other SEC teams opened as much bigger favorites over their Week 1 non-conference opponents.

Some of those include Florida over New Mexico State (-36.5), Arkansas over UTEP (-33), and Georgia over ULM (-35). Tennessee opened up as a 21.5 point favorite over Bowling Green and Kentucky as a 16.5 point favorite over ULL.

Then there's the matchups that likely end up too close for comfort if you're an SEC fan: Wisconsin vs. Bama (-10.5), Louisville vs. Auburn (-11), and Arizona State vs Texas A&M (-3).

Lines have not been released for Ole Miss, LSU, or Missouri's season openers.