Peach Bowl 2023: Ole Miss arrives in Atlanta as an underdog

The 10-win Ole Miss Rebels won’t win the Peach Bowl if the oddsmakers in Las Vegas are right.

Fortunately, betting lines don’t matter to the players in the game, especially during bowl season. Penn State opened as 3.5 point favorites and that line has only increased to 4 points in most sportsbooks.

The Rebels were 7-4-1 against the spread this season, but enter into somewhat uncommon territory as Ole Miss was favored in all but three games (Georgia, LSU, and Alabama). In those three games, the Rebels were 1-2, but only one game was truly a blowout loss.

Penn State meanwhile was 9-3 against the spread when the Nittany Lions were unable to cover in a win over Indiana or in the losses to Michigan and Ohio State.

Just reading the tea leaves on this, but it makes a lot of logical sense to have PSU as favorites in this game. There’s no double digit losses, and the Nittany Lions win every game they are expected to win.

But with some of the most talented defensive players opting out of the game, I’m not sure how bettors are weighing those players vacancies. If it were me, I’d be staying away from the spread and focused on the over/under sitting at 48.5 points.

The Rebels are going to be able to put some points on the board as one of the most explosive offensive teams in the country this year. Penn State will likely play a very conservative offensive plan as it did most of the season. The under seems ripe for the picking as a 21-17 or something like that, very Big Ten vibes happening in this noon kickoff.