Could we be getting the same game as we saw last time? That is what the very latest betting odds suggest could happen in this year's Sugar Bowl. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs will now be laying 7.5 points to the No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels in their neutral-site affair over in New Orleans. The original betting line only had Georgia laying 6.5 points. There are reasons for this...
The big key here might be the projected over/under total of 55.5 combined points. Keep in mind how high scoring the Oct. 18 game was Between the Hedges between these two teams. Georgia and Ole Miss combined to score 78 points in the Dawgs' 43-35 come-from-behind victory over the Rebels. It was a game where Georgia did not punt once. Defensive coordinator Pete Golding leads Ole Miss...
What the implied final score of the latest odds tell us is Georgia is expected to beat Ole Miss 31.5 to 24. That is a far cry from the 78 combined points they scored over two months ago. This has to be a reason why the betting odds were so low to begin with. Then again, the betting public quickly pounced on the 6.5 and forced it up to 7.5. Clearly, Georgia is expected to be a multi-score favorite.
Unfortunately, Kirby Smart's team rarely makes it a point to cover gargantuan point spreads anyway.
Latest betting odds suggest Georgia should beat Ole Miss effortlessly
The reason why the initial betting odds felt so disrespectful has everything to do with Ole Miss having just played a playoff game with a first-time head coach in Pete Golding. Yes, Ole Miss has a talented roster, but we are talking about a coach who is so very new to being the guy in the big chair. Golding might have beaten an on-the-way-out Jon Sumrall, but Kirby Smart is the very best in the business.
Although Smart will never admit to it, he had his team preparing for Ole Miss the entire time. Georgia has had two weeks to get ready for the rematch with the Rebels up to this point. They will have another 11 days to put in the work as well. Even though Ole Miss had to put in some time to prepare for Georgia in the event that they won, the Rebels still had to beat the Green Wave to get to this point.
Ultimately, there was nothing we saw out of Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon that leads us to think they are going to beat Georgia handily in the rematch. They could win. This is a quality team, and those sort of things happen. That being said, Georgia is not Tulane and Tulane is not Georgia. Just because the Rebels wiped the floor with the Greenies again does not mean they will do it to UGA.
At this time, Dawg Nation better be ready to avenge last year's loss in the Sugar Bowl this season.