SEC picks for Week 5 including Hogs, Aggies

By Jason Pattyson

FAYETTEVILLE — It’s clear the SEC teams eyeing bowl games began to separate themselves from the rest of the pack in week four. Besides Oklahoma, the bottom of the league standings are all .500 or worse overall. This week’s slate is a little light, but one matchup will play a heavy hand in determining who will be on top of the league at the end of the season. 

Last week, the picks were just over .500, 5-4 against the spread and 8-2 straight up. Congrats to John James, our photographer, he guessed the winner and missed the score by one point. Vandy lost a heartbreaker in OT, and every week, fans wait for Florida to lose, and they are now 2-2. Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida, and Missouri all scored their first SEC league victory, and Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas, Oklahoma, Auburn, Mississippi St., and Alabama all have a chance to get their first SEC win of 2024. So let’s get into it. 

No. 2 Georgia (3-0, 1-0) -2 at No. 4 Alabama (3-0)

College Gameday and Nick Saban will be in Tuscaloosa for this top-five tilt. It will be the first major building block in shaping the top 12 teams at the end of the year. Georgia cruised til they found a pothole in a close call in Kentucky. The Bulldogs have their work cut out for them, defending freshman wideout Ryan Williams and senior signal caller Jalen Millroe. The Tide is 13th in total defense. Georgia’s offense ranks 65th nationally, the Alabama offense is 24th, and the Bulldogs defense is 4th. It will all come down to execution in crunch time and who wins the turnover battle. Bama benefits from home-field advantage and covers barely. This one is in primetime on ABC at 6 p.m.

Georgia – 20

Alabama – 24

No. 1 Texas (4-0) -38.5 vs. Mississippi St. (1-3)

Texas is on top of the college football world for the second week in a row and the longest since 2008. They host their first SEC league game welcoming Cowbell U, which should give Bevo mixed feelings in DKR Memorial Stadium. The Longhorns are a heavy favorite, but the road team is 7-1 in league play through week 4, with Missouri surviving Vandy in OT, the lone home win this season. By this time, Bevo’s presence will be the closet cowbell that can be heard in Austin, and the Longhorns keep rolling; the game will air on SEC Network at 3:15.

Mississippi St. – 17

Texas – 31

No. 6 Ole Miss (4-0) -17.5 vs Kentucky (2-2, 0-2) 

The Ole Miss defense has allowed 22 points all season, led the country in points allowed with 5.5 PPG, and gave up one touchdown all season. The offense leads the nation in scoring offense, passing offense, first down offense, and third down conversion. The Wildcats took Georgia to the final whistle, but this Rebel offense differs. The only way for head coach Mark Stoops and company to have a chance is to make this game a rock fight. This will be Ole Miss’s biggest test of this young season, but they can’t afford to stumble early and have to protect the ball. Rebels get all they can handle but start with a win to open SEC play, ABC at 11 a.m. 

Kentucky – 10

Ole Miss – 27

NO. 14 LSU (3-1, 1-0) -22 VS South Alabama (2-2)

LSU looks to recharge after hosting UCLA last week and take a breather against the Jaguars. The Tigers get a bye in week 6, then clash with Ole Miss in week seven. Arkansas, coming off a bye in week eight, will test the team’s season in its journey toward the CFP. It will be the Tigers early and often in this contest, which can be seen on SEC Network at 6:45.

South Alabama – 3

LSU – 38

No. 21 Oklahoma (3-1, 0-1) -2 at Auburn (2-2, 0-1)

This week, all the news heading into this game has yet to be anything about the game being played. First, you had Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze make controversial comments about his players on camera, and then most of the league took swipes at the guy. Freeze found out exactly where he stood when his peers were asked about his approach to handling the locker room. Will it be Payton Thorne or Hank Brown? It seems Thorne has the best chance against the Sooner defense, which gave Tennessee everything they had at a loss. Jackson Arnold will sit, and Michael Hawkins Jr. will get the nod on the road on the team’s first trip to the plains. OU leads the series 2-0. The 1972 Sugar Bowl Sooners won 40-22, and the 2017 Sugar Bowl Sooners won 35-19. Sooner find a way, and turnovers are the key, with the Tigers leading the nation in giving the ball away. The hot seat for Hugh Freeze gets a lot hotter with two straight home SEC losses to start league play. ABC at 11 a.m. 

Oklahoma – 27

Auburn – 20

NO. 24 Texas A&M (3-1, 1-0) -4 vs. Arkansas (3-1, 1-0)

Boy, this game seems to be extra odd every year. This will be more of the same in the last year of the Southwest Classic at Cowboy Stadium in Dallas, TX. The Razorback defense forced five turnovers on the road at Auburn and kicked off SEC play 1-0 for two of the last three years. Arkansas could be getting some guys back on defense, according to the league-mandated injury report that came out Wednesday. Marcel Reed looks to be under center for the Aggies in an offense that is starting to find its way, but the Razorback defense, a top-50 squad from a year ago, could cause all kinds of problems for Reed Saturday. The Aggie defense will have its hands full with the Arkansas offense. Taylen Green, Ja’Quinden Jackson, and Andrew Armstrong are the three-headed monsters of this Razorback power-rushing offense. Green proved last week that he can hurt an SEC defense with his arm and legs. That could spell trouble for the Aggie defense as they have just as good of athletes as Auburn does on defense. Arkansas pulls it out in the final game in Dallas in what has yet to be a home away from home for the Hogs, ESPN 2:30 p.m.

Otis Kirk / Arkansas 27-24

Jerry Meadows / Arkansas 38-27

John James / Arkansas 31-16 

Drake Priddy / Arkansas 33-24

Jason Pattyson / Arkansas  31-20