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Chris ‘The Bear’ Fallica offers betting thoughts for SEC games this week
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ESPN’s college football betting guru, Chris ‘The Bear’ Fallica, was on the McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning podcast Friday to offer his thoughts on the most interesting games of the week. As he does every week, he highlighted a few SEC games.
A handful of SEC squads are playing nonconference opponents in Week 12, but there are some interesting conference matchups still on the slate, including a matchup between No. 2 Alabama and No. 21 Arkansas and South Carolina-Auburn.
“I agree with you on the under (being favorable),” Fallica said on the SC-Auburn matchup. As of publication, it was set at 44.5. There has been movement on the line, though, as it was revealed Auburn quarterback Bo Nix would miss the game. “(Auburn quarterback TJ) Finley’s a more-than-competent backup who can go in and handle situations. I’m surprised the number has moved as much as it has. I wonder if that’s more of a reaction to, ‘OK, Auburn blew a big lead last week,’ the direction of their season, South Carolina had a big win over Florida at home.
“But outside of that Florida game, the South Carolina offense hasn’t done a whole lot this year. I’d actually go against the move here. … I think the Tigers go on the road and get a solid win here. … I actually think it’s a pretty good spot for Auburn and I like them to win this game by double-digits.”
The Tigers (6-4, 3-3 SEC) are a 7.5-point road favorite over the Gamecocks (5-5, 2-5 SEC), with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Asked if 20.5 points was too big a line for the Crimson Tide in their game against the Razorbacks, Fallica said he thought it was.
“I think some of the injuries they suffered last week, I think Arkansas and what they do defensively in basically just dropping 8, I don’t think this is a game where Alabama’s offense has a ton of big plays,'” Fallica said. “I think (quarterback) Bryce Young and the offense are gonna have to be patient and take some of the underneath stuff. I think they’re going to be trying to establish a little bit more of a running game being that they’ve really struggled in some of these games this year running the football.
“I think 20.5 is too many because I do think that Arkansas defense is going to give them some problems.”
The Tide (9-1, 5-1 SEC) and Razorbacks (7-3, 3-3 SEC) kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
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Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
