When last we checked in on SEC Championship Game odds, the Auburn Tigers were 4.5-point favorites over the South Carolina Gamecocks, down from five the day before. Since then the NCAA declared Cam Newton eligible for Saturday, and the line has jumped to six according to Odds Shark.
Did anybody seriously think Newton wasn’t going to play? Auburn has stared the NCAA down since day one, sliding all its chips to the middle of the table at every opportunity. Lines will always fluctuate throughout the week, but a 1.5-point swing counter to the initial momentum suggests the Newton finding did have some impact.
I thought Carolina was a decent play at -4.5, but -6 sounds even better. Auburn won by eight in Jordan-Hare, so a neutral-site line of five would make sense. But Steve Spurrier is still 5-2 in SEC Championship Games, with one of those losses by only a touchdown. If any team on Auburn’s schedule gave away a win, as is the common message board parlance, it’s Carolina, more so than even the Alabama Crimson Tide or Clemson Tigers. Four straight fourth-quarter turnovers? That’s not happening again.