Auburn vs. Georgia: College Football Picks Against the Spread

After a nicely timed week off, the No. 20 Auburn Tigers will head to Athens, Ga., this Saturday for a big inter-divisional showdown with No. 15 Georgia, which is coming into the game fresh off a 63-16 thumping of New Mexico State last week.

While the Tigers look to be out of the SEC West race already with losses to both LSU and Arkansas, the Bulldogs are still neck and neck with South Carolina in the SEC East.

You can bet that they’re going to be doing everything they can to make it to Atlanta and help secure coach Mark Richt’s job status.

The boys in Las Vegas seem to be high on the home team in this one, as they’ve installed Georgia as 13-point favorites in this matchup.

While that spread may seem high for a battle of two SEC teams that are only ranked five spots apart, it only takes one quick breakdown of both teams to realize that Georgia holds the advantage in almost every facet of the game.

This year, Auburn’s offense has really struggled without Heisman-winning quarterback Cam Newton, and the defense is still young and inexperienced at some key spots.

Georgia, on the other hand, has been getting increasingly stronger after starting the season 0-2, and the Bulldogs have been on a roll for the last seven games.

Before last year’s 49-31 loss, Georgia had four straight wins in the “Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry” and it looks like Richt’s crew should be able to start up a new streak this year.

The only question is, can the Bulldogs win by two touchdowns?

Georgia is 6-3 against the spread this year, but the last time the Bulldogs had to cover a 13-point spread against Vanderbilt, they failed to do so.

It will be up to QB Aaron Murray to expose a porous Auburn secondary.

If Murray can get into a rhythm early, the Bulldogs should have no problem pulling away in the second half.

Prediction: Georgia 38, Auburn 20