Tennessee football: Week 3 SEC and top 25 picks and bets
Mississippi State Bulldogs at Memphis Tigers (ESPN)
Saturday Sept. 18 at 4 p.m. ET; Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium; Memphis, Tenn.
Line: Mississippi State -3; Over/Under: 64.5
Moneyline: Mississippi State -165; Memphis +140
This site nailed its take on Mike Leach last week. The prediction that he would overachieve a week after barely beating the Mississippi State Bulldogs was an obvious one. Even that inconsistency would have been welcome for Tennessee football fans.
Now, MSU has a second straight tough outing. The Memphis Tigers are a great Group of Five program and could give the Bulldogs tons of trouble. This game being in Memphis makes it even more difficult. Ryan Silverfield hasn’t missed a beat from Mike Norvell, and his team beat former Tennessee football head coach Butch Jones and the Arkansas State Red Wolves.
Prediction
I missed on the over/under last week with MSU, but I’m taking the over again. You’ve got a Leach offense against a Memphis defense that just allowed 50 points! At the same time, though, I’m taking Memphis to hang with MSU. In fact, Leach’s inconsistencies will return. Remember when the Tigers upset the Ole Miss Rebels in 2014? They’ll do it again here. Take them on the spread.
Memphis: 42 Mississippi State: 38 (Memphis +3; Over 64.5)