What do you get when you put 22 tigers on the same football field? We’ll find out Saturday as Auburn travels to Missouri for an SEC football showdown between two teams with different aspirations at this point in the season.

For Missouri, the goal is to continue building on its 5-1 campaign with aspirations of breaking into the 12-team College Football Playoff field.

On the other sideline, the Auburn Tigers are looking for something to inspire confidence in their 2024 campaign. Sitting at 2-4 on the season, the team has struggled to find consistency, and is searching for its first conference win.

Auburn vs. Missouri predictions and best bets

• Missouri -4: -108 on DraftKings
• Auburn total points under 23.5: -122 on FanDuel

While the 5-1 record may paint a bit of a false narrative, the Missouri Tigers have something that Auburn doesn’t: offensive firepower. With WRs Luther Burden III and Theo Wease Jr. receiving passes from QB Brady Cook, the team is capable of winning ball games.

With an Auburn offense that has been struggling to find its rhythm, I don’t think Missouri will have any trouble covering the four-point spread.

The current line for Auburn total points is set at 23.5. While Missouri’s defense is under question after losing to Texas A&M, Auburn hasn’t scored this total against any Power 4 opponent this season.

As long as Missouri can slow down RB Jarquez Hunter, then Auburn should go under this total on Saturday.

Auburn vs. Missouri moneyline odds analysis

Why Missouri could win as the favorite

Best odds: -172 moneyline with FanDuel Sportsbook

Missouri has been scrutinized from fans around the country as the team hasn‘t beaten anyone notable through the first half of the season. In the its first opportunity to do so, they got steamrolled by Texas A&M.

As a result, the line is close heading into kickoff Saturday, showing that the sportsbooks aren’t feeling confident in Missouri yet.

On the flip side, Auburn hasn’t beaten anyone notable either. Its two victories came against New Mexico and Alabama A&M. Auburn did manage to keep things close against Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Still, Missouri has its strengths to set itself over Auburn on the offensive line and under center.

As long as Cook is able to play a clean and efficient game, Missouri has what it takes to come out of Saturday’s afternoon matchup with a victory.

Why Auburn could win as the underdog

Best odds: +155 moneyline with bet365 Sportsbook

Vegas is quite sharp when it comes to betting lines, and its confidence in the Auburn Tigers to put up a tough game against Missouri isn’t unfounded.

In recent weeks, Auburn has been able to keep things competitive in three straight SEC matchups with Arkansas, Oklahoma and Georgia, to a lesser extent.

While Missouri entered the season with plenty of hype, there is a lot less confidence in the quality of its roster after a 41-10 loss to Texas A&M. With close calls against Vanderbilt and Boston College as its only other notable competition, it’s hard to gauge what type of team this is.

On Saturday against an Auburn program with nothing to lose, there is certainly a chance Missouri falters when pressed with real competition.

QB Payton Thorne and Hunter must step up if they intend to pull off the upset on the road, but the possibility is there.