One of the best early season games of the 2019 college football season kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday night when the No. 10 Texas Longhorns host the No. 6 LSU Tigers. Each team rolled in their season openers -- LSU and Texas pounded overmatched Georgia Southern and Louisiana Tech a combined 100-17. Saturday's showdown raises the competition level and the stakes, and the Tigers and Longhorns each have College Football Playoff aspirations. Bettors are backing the road team so far, as the latest Texas vs. LSU odds show the Tigers favored by 6.5 points, up from the opening line of -4.5. The over-under for total points scored is 57. Only twice in the last four years has Texas lost by more than five points at home, so before locking in any Texas vs. LSU picks or college football predictions, you'll want to see the results from the SportsLine Projection Model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every FBS college football game 10,000 times, and those who have followed it have seen massive returns. Over the past four years, this proprietary computer model has generated a jaw-dropping $4,530 profit for $100 bettors on its top-rated spread picks.
The model enters Week 2 of the 2019 college football season on a blistering 52-31 run on all top-rated picks. It also called Auburn (-3.5) covering against Oregon and Alabama (-34) covering against Duke in Week 1. Anybody who has been following it is way up.
Now, it has set its sights on Texas vs. LSU. We can tell you it's leaning under, but it's also generated a strong against the spread pick that hits in 60 percent of simulations. That one is available over at SportsLine.
LSU plans to play at a faster offensive pace this season. The season opener was a testament to that, as the Tigers ran a play every 22 seconds, five seconds faster than last year. Joe Burrow led the operation, accounting for more passing TDs (5) than incompletions (4) in a 55-3 rout of Georgia Southern. Burrow is picking up where he left off, after accounting for 13 of his 23 TDs in the final four games of 2018, grading out as the No. 3 QB in the nation in that stretch by Pro Football Focus.
LSU has eight returning starters on each side of the ball, a lot of experience back for a team that went 10-3 and finished No. 6 in the polls. That's in sharp contrast to the eight starters the Longhorns have back. If the Tigers can't pull away early, superior depth and experience may allow them to pull away late.
Just because the Tigers are loaded and favored on Saturday doesn't mean they'll cover the Texas vs. LSU spread against the Longhorns.
Texas took a big jump in Tom Herman's second year as head coach. After going 7-6 in 2017 -- its best record since 2013 -- Herman's Longhorns went 10-4 last year (best since 2009) and beat five teams ranked in the top 25, the most by the program in a season in 15 years. Herman is 3-0 against SEC teams all-time. The Longhorns, who beat No. 6 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl to end last season, won't be intimidated by No. 6 LSU on Saturday.
Ehlinger accounted for more than three TDs per game last season and did so with an injured shoulder. He tossed four TDs in the Longhorns' 45-14 win over Louisiana Tech in the opener. Texas is on a 4-1-1 streak covering the spread at home, and went 5-1 last year straight-up at Memorial Stadium. Texas is 10-6 all-time at home when both teams are ranked in the top 10.
Who wins LSU vs. Texas? And which side of the spread hits in nearly 60 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the LSU vs. Texas spread you should back on Saturday, all from the advanced computer model on a 52-31 run on top-rated college football picks, and find out.
