College Football Betting – Arkansas Home Dog to (8) Ole Miss

(8) Ole Miss Rebels (-3.5, 45.5 o/u) at Arkansas Razorbacks

Ranked No. 8, the Ole Miss Rebels (8-2, 4-2 SEC) are the top two-loss team in the nation, according to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. While most two-loss teams have said emotional goodbyes to their playoff chances, Ole Miss still has a shot if it can win out. That road starts this Saturday with a road tilt against the dangerous Arkansas Razorbacks (5-5, 1-5 SEC). (The pitch inclines next week, as the Rebels host No. 4 Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl.)

Mississippi head coach Hugh Freeze said, “We’ve preached to our kids all along, you play until the end and see what happens. There’s just so much football left to be played. The results (from last weekend) certainly kept us alive with some very important, lofty things that we could accomplish.”

While most of the population of Mississippi is already looking ahead to the Egg Bowl, Ole Miss will have to be careful not to take the Razorbacks lightly.  Arkansas played Alabama and Mississippi State tough earlier in the year before beating LSU 17-0 last weekend.

Freeze said, “I guess, just looking at what has occurred, you would have to say that this may not be our best matchup. But we’ve got to play it, and we’ve got to find a plan to get our kids in the right spot. Hopefully we learned something.”

Injuries to wide receiver Laquon Treadwell and linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche will make the matchup even worse for Ole Miss.

The short-staffed rebels will receive no pity from the Razorbacks. Arkansas has long been the whipping boy in the SEC, losing 17 straight conference games before last weekend’s emotional triumph over LSU.  Second-year Razorbacks head coach Bret Bielema is confident that the win over LSU is just the tip of the iceberg for his team. “I think our reality slapped us in the face pretty quick on Sunday and hopefully it will carry through the week. … We can play with anybody in the country. I know that sounds silly to say, but it’s 100 percent true. Our guys are able to do that,” said Bielema.

The Razorbacks will have the chance to prove their coach right on Saturday, as Ole Miss boasts the very best scoring defense in the nation (11.9 points per game). In all likelihood, the game plan for Bielema and the Razorbacks will be the same as it is every week: lean heavily on their 22nd rank rushing game led by Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins. That is Arkansas best hope against an Ole Miss squad that is solid, but not dominant, against the run (128 yards per game).

Considering Arkansas is a home dog and coming in hot, take the Razorbacks money line (+152).

(Photo credit: JustDog (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)