Extra Prep Time Helps Ole Miss Gather Itself For Date with Arkansas
By Charles Jay
There is no question that having lost their last game and being, in effect, eliminated from any real consideration to the four-team college football playoff may have a negative effect on the psyche of the Ole Miss Rebels. But they have had plenty of time to get ready for the next SEC game, which takes place against the Arkansas Razorbacks, kicking off at 3:30 PM ET on Saturday in Fayetteville.
College football bettors will take note that Ole Miss is still ranked eighth in the country, in all the major polls, including the playoff rankings. So if there is a flurry of losses on the part of teams in front of them, there may be a slim chance they could elevate themselves into the top four, but that is the longest of longshots at best. Meanwhile, Arkansas is beaming after they broke their 17-game SEC losing streak last week against LSU. But interestingly enough, this team that has played so tough against very strong opposition still needs one victory to get bowl eligible.
In the college football odds that have been posted on this game by the people at Vietbet, Mississippi is favored on the road:
Ole Miss Rebels -3.5
Arkansas Razorbacks +3.5
Over 45 points -110
Under 45 points -110
Arkansas was extremely impressive in their 17-0 victory over the Bayou Bengals, holding LSU, a nationally -ranked team, to 123 total yards. Of course, the Tigers are a rather one-dimensional squad, and quarterback Anthony Jennings is not known as a terribly capable quarterback. This will not be the dynamic at work in Saturday’s game. Ole Miss comes in with one of the better quarterbacks in the conference in Bo Wallace, who has completed 64% of his passes this season, and perhaps even more importantly, for purposes of this discussion, had 416 yards through the air in last year’s meeting between these two teams at Oxford. Mississippi won that game 34-24, despite the fact that Arkansas piled up 196 yards on the ground.
And Vietbet customers could argue strongly that Ole Miss has gotten a lot better on defense since then. The Rebels, despite allowing 35 points last time out against Auburn, still lead the nation in scoring defense. And with Arkansas’ big victory last week, there is almost no chance that Mississippi will overlook this squad. We say that even though next week comes the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State, in which the two teams have more credentials than they have in years and years. Last week Ole Miss played a near-exhibition against an FCS entry (Presbyterian), and had a bye week before that, so basically they have had three weeks since their last real game.
Vietbet patrons will be careful to look out for the intensity level of Ole Miss. Do they still think they are in the running for the Final Four? Are they going to come out and play on the defensive end? Remember that Arkansas had only 95 net rushing yards against LSU, so even though the Hogs emphasize the run to a considerable degree, they can be stopped short against high-level opposition. But they can also rise to the occasion, witness the 14-13 loss to the current #1 team in the country, the Alabama Crimson Tide, and a 17-10 defeat, which deck went down to the wire, against the former #1 team, Mississippi State.
College football betting action goes to a new level at Vietbet, where you can get reduced juice on all of the NCAA action, as well as Dynamic Lines, and the ability to deposit in Bitcoin. Come aboard right now!
