Mississippi State vs. LSU Prediction, Odds, Spread and Over/Under for College Football Week 3

Two teams possibly heading in opposite directions meet in Baton Rogue on Saturday night.

Mississippi State has made an impression early in the season, bludgeoning Memphis and Arizona as it builds up a head of steam as a threat in the SEC this season. The Bulldogs travel to Death Valley to face Brian Kelly's LSU Tigers, that is 1-1, losing their Week 1 test to Florida State but getting back on track against FCS Southern.

Is LSU going to round into form, or is this Mississippi State on an upward trajectory while Kelly is still trying to figure out things with his roster in the first season of his tenure with the school?

Let's check out the odds for this SEC opener from FanDuel Sportsbook:

Mississippi State vs. LSU Odds, Spread and Total

Mississippi State vs. LSU Betting Trends

• Mike Leach is 16-15 against the spread (ATS) as a road favorite, 2-1 at Mississippi State
• LSU is 6-3 ATS as a home underdog since 2016

Mississippi State vs. LSU Prediction and Pick

As the trend above alludes to, this is a rare spot for LSU to be in, but I think it is rightfully a home underdog to a Mississippi State team that is quickly looking like a top 15 team (and maybe even better than that).

It's clear that Will Rogers is taking a leap in Mike Leach's air raid offense in his third season, completing 77-of-99 passes for 738 yards and nine touchdowns already this season. While he is more of a traditional pocket passer, which is far different than what LSU saw in Jordan Travis of Florida State, I still think the Miss State offense can challenge this Tigers defense that was sloppy in the secondary in that game.

Florida State had several players down field open, and I expect the quick timing offense of Mississippi State to put speed in space and challenge the LSU secondary.

On the other side, the Bulldogs boast one of the best defensive lines in college football and should overwhelm an inexperienced Tigers OL that couldn't protect Jayden Daniels in the opener. Daniels can make plays with his legs, but I expect the Mississippi State defense gives him too much trouble.

Overall, I think the right team is favored and the Bulldogs hand LSU a second disheartening loss as this team is still in the onset of its rebuild and expectations need to be tempered the rest of the season.