Missouri Tigers vs. Vanderbilt Commodores: prediction, bet line odds, TV, kickoff time

Can’t blame Vanderbilt for seeing Saturday’s college football game at Missouri as the program’s best chance for an SEC victory since 2019.

Facing Mizzou, the Commodores — whose 0-3 league start has pushed their SEC losing streak to 24 games — are for the first time this season about to play an opponent that’s unranked in the AP top 10. Vandy has previously fallen to Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia this season.

But Missouri is equally hungry for its first SEC triumph of the season — and a win in MU’s Homecoming Game Saturday could change this season’s narrative. The Tigers’ three SEC losses, to Auburn, Georgia and Florida, were by a combined 14 points, and no one need remind the Tigers that each of those defeats was painful in its own way.

Vandy’s SEC losing streak, meanwhile, started in 2019. Their last SEC victory came against a Missouri team that had started the season 5-1 and climbed into the Top 25. The Tigers’ loss that day three years ago started a five-game skid that helped cost Barry Odom his job and usher in current head coach Eli Drinkwitz.

So what happens Saturday? Missouri has played some strong defense, and that should be the difference as the Tigers snap a skid of their own.

Prediction: Missouri 33-20.

Line: Missouri by 14 (opened Missouri by 15 1/2).

Last game prediction: Florida 28-24.

2022 record on picks: 5-1.

2022 record against the spread: 4-1.

The details

Kickoff: 3 p.m.

Where: Faurot Field, Columbia

TV: SEC Network

Radio: KMBZ (98.1 FM)