LSU at Auburn: Prediction and odds for Week 5 College Football

LSU football is riding a three-game winning streak after its latest victory, a 38-0 shutout of New Mexico. The Tigers looked impressive in that game. They implemented their new offensive strategy and stepped up on defense, despite being without four starters on that side of the ball. Brian Kelly’s team is playing with a bit of confidence at the moment.

It’s now time to see how that will translate to conference play as LSU preps for its toughest stretch yet. The Tigers will be on the road for the first time this season (New Orleans against Florida State doesn’t count) this weekend against Auburn. The Tigers—navy and orange, not purple and gold—have struggled immensely this year under Bryan Harsin. Nevertheless, Auburn always proves to be a tough opponent for the Bayou Bengals.

Here are the official odds (via FanDuel Sportsbook) for the upcoming match-up between LSU and Auburn, as well as some predictions for the contest:

LSU at Auburn odds for Week 5 college football match-up

After a close call on the Plains last weekend against Mizzou, the Tigers opened up as touchdown underdogs to LSU at home. While the Bayou Bengals have had success at Jordan-Hare Stadium recently, a -6.5 opening line was very generous. That spread has only grown since Sunday.

The visitors are now shocking 8.5-point favorites (-110) at Auburn.

As such, the moneyline odds on the purple and gold Tigers are going down. LSU is -315 to improve to 4-1 this weekend with a win over Harsin’s struggling squad. The hosts are +250 to win outright, which in years past would be a fireable offense in and of itself from an Auburn head coach.

The over/under is set at 45.5 points at the moment. Similar to the spread though, don’t expect that line to stay the same for very long.

LSU at Auburn prediction for Week 5 college football match-up

I have been cautious when predicting LSU games this season. The Tigers have historically struggled to blow out non-conference opponents at home, but Kelly has this program turned around as of late. LSU has seemingly changed its ways and begun to operate as it should every week under the former Notre Dame head coach.

I was skeptical of taking the Tigers to win at all—let alone cover the -8.5 spread. However, I’m going to be bold this week. LSU is so much better than its host on both sides of the ball. The Bayou Bengals rank 22nd and 12th in total offense and defense respectively after Week 4. Auburn ranks 89th and 49th in the same categories.

LSU has too many weapons on offense for the opposing defense to contain all night long. The Tigers also have one of the best defenses in the country, which should be able to easily stop what is a truly painful offense to watch in Auburn. I would feel a lot differently about this game if Harsin wasn’t on the host’s sideline. Thanks to Mizzou, he is, and that gives LSU a serious edge.