LSU vs. Southern: Prediction and odds for Week 2 of college football

LSU and Southern could not have had different starts to their respective seasons. The Tigers squared off against Florida State in the Caesars Superdome on Sunday night. They were defeated in heartbreaking fashion (by a blocked PAT as time expired) and the fans were left with many more questions than answers. Meanwhile, the Jaguars trounced Florida Memorial, putting up an astonishing 86 points in the shutout victory.

It goes without saying these two Baton Rouge residents are in very different places heading into Saturday’s first ever meeting between the schools. At the end of the day though, one is a college football blue blood and the other is its FCS neighbor. There are a lot of stories heading into the contest, but it seems a foregone conclusion that LSU will be celebrating a victory on Saturday night. Let’s get into some early betting odds and a prediction for the “rivalry” game.

LSU vs. Southern odds for Week 2 college football match-up

As one can imagine, not many places will be posting odds for the FBS/FCS clash taking place at Tiger Stadium on Saturday evening. The Tigers are heavily favorited, despite their sluggish performance for much of the game against the Seminoles last weekend. LSU should have enough to comfortably get by the visiting Jaguars, especially with college football’s winningest active head coach, Brian Kelly, on its sideline.

Luckily, WynnBet has odds on the game. Southern fans, view discretion is advised.

The Tigers are obviously the early odds favorites, the question was always going to be “by how much?” WynnBet has LSU down as a -47.5 point favorite (-110) over one of the FCS’ most explosive offenses. The Tigers are -50000 favorites on the moneyline, which, to you new bettors, means you would win $0.02 for every $10 you put on LSU to win outright. Suffice it to say, you’d be smart to stay away unless you’re banking on a Southern upset victory (+2500).

As for the O/U line, it is set at 58 points (-110) in total.

LSU vs. Southern prediction for Week 2 college football match-up

Surprisingly enough, I think that Saturday’s match-up will create one of the most rowdy environments that LSU’s campus will see this season. Every seat that would normally be empty in one of the Tigers’ cupcake non-conference games will be snatched up by Southern supporters, many of whom only need to drive a few miles to get to Death Valley.

As I mentioned earlier though, it’s almost a certain win for the hosts. LSU simply has too much talent at every level to slip up against an FCS school. Even though the Tigers had an underwhelming debut, it’d be one of the biggest upsets in college football history if they did drop the ball in this contest.

All of that being said, it’s hard to imagine Kelly’s team covering the spread. 47.5 points is a lot, even for a game this lopsided. LSU hasn’t traditionally run up the score too much on opponents it pays to play in Tiger Stadium either, I don’t see this game going any differently. The Tigers will win the game—comfortably, might I add—but I think Southern puts up some points. The Jaguars’ offense is simply too explosive and it will be able to find the end zone every once in a while. LSU ends Week 2 at 1-1 and hands its neighbor its first loss of the season.