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After an early-season home loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and a road loss to a surging South Carolina team that has won four straight games, the No. 15 Texas A&M Aggies are still on the outside looking in for the 12-team College Football Playoff.
However, if A&M can win on the road against Auburn and at home against the now-No. 3 Texas Longhorns, it could not only advance to the CFP but also to the SEC Championship.
Can the Aggies grab a crucial road win against Auburn and potentially upset the Longhorns in their final game of the season to find a backdoor into the CFP?
Texas A&M vs. Auburn odds
(7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
| Team | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas A&M | -2.5 (-110) | -130 | o46.5 (-110) |
| Auburn | +2.5 (-110) | +110 | u46.5 (-110) |
Texas A&M vs. Auburn prediction
If nothing else, the Auburn Tigers are a phenomenal defensive team, boasting the 15th-highest-graded overall defense and ranking 19th in opponent rushing yards per game (fourth-fewest in their last three games) and 24th in opponent points per game.
However, A&M has been fantastic with Marcel Reed starting under center, holding a 5-1 record. The Aggies’ sole loss came on the road against South Carolina, and he was hardly to blame for that outcome.
The Gamecocks decimated A&M in the second half, scoring 24 unanswered points behind their rushing attack. They rushed for just shy of 300 yards in the game.
Still, A&M made some improvements last week and appear to be a team that could win out in its final two games to sneak into the SEC Championship.
My faith level in Auburn’s offense is at an all-time low after it scored just seven points against Vanderbilt two weeks ago.
And while the Tigers will have a few huge stands defensively, I don’t see Thorne moving them down the field enough on this strong A&M defense.
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Thorne will experience a lot of pressure from the Aggies’ 22nd-highest-graded pass-rushing unit and is not mobile enough to improvise plays, forcing him to make passes into tight coverage that could result in interceptions.
I’ve seen enough from A&M on the road (2-1) against middle-of-the-road teams to feel good about laying the 2.5 points with it.
The urgency will be there.
BEST BET: Texas A&M -2.5 (-110, Caesars)
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Andrew Norton handicaps the NBA, WNBA, NFL, college basketball and football, UFC and golf. During the 2022-23 NBA season, he achieved a standout 14.1% ROI, cashing 60% of his NBA spread picks and leading Tallysight in its SportsIQ metric.