SEC football betting odds LSU vs. Mississippi State: Tigers down 19 starters from national title team in opener

Led by Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow and Biletnikoff Award winner J'Marr Chase, LSU had the best season in school history last year on the way to winning the national championship. However, the Tigers open defense of that title on Saturday vs. Mississippi State having lost an unprecedented 19 starters (including special teams) from that club – including Burrow and Chase. The No. 8 Tigers are still 16.5-point favorites on Saturday as Mike Leach makes his SEC coaching debut with MSU. The 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff is on CBS.

LSU had 14 players selected in the 2020 NFL Draft, led by Burrow at No. 1 overall to the Cincinnati Bengals. Linebackers K'Lavon Chaisson and Patrick Queen were also first-round picks as were receiver Justin Jefferson and running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire. A few other projected starters simply opted out of 2020, including Chase.

Myles Brennan takes Burrow's spot under center and is +2000 via SportsLine oddsmakers to win the Heisman. Brennan has appeared 17 games during his LSU career, with no starts, passing for 600 yards and 2 TDs. Junior Terrace Marshall Jr. is LSU's top returning receiver with 58 career receptions for 863 yards and 13 TDs. Marshall and right tackle Austin Deculus are the only starters back on offense.

The Tigers have the nation's longest winning streak at 16 in a row, three shy of the school record set between 1957 and 1959. They have won those by an average margin of 25.4 points. Coach Ed Orgeron is 6-0 all-time in season openers, with three of those wins at LSU and three at Ole Miss.

The last school to defend its national championship after losing at least 14 starters from the previous season was Auburn in 2011. The '11 Tigers, whose biggest lost starter was 2010 Heisman winner Cam Newton, would go 8-5. LSU is +2000 at William Hill sportsbook to repeat and +700 to win the SEC again.

Mississippi State has just one victory in its past 12 trips to Baton Rouge. The Bulldogs should certainly be more interesting this season with Leach and his high-powered Air Raid offense. Leach has picked Stanford transfer KJ Costello as his starting QB. He was second-team All-Pac 12 in 2018 but was very limited by injuries in 2019 with the Cardinal.

Leach's teams have led the nation in passing in 10 of his 18 seasons as a head coach at Texas Tech and Washington State. He leads active FBS head coaches with the most average passing yards per game since 2001 at 394.5. Since 2005, Leach's offenses have passed for at least 500 yards in 26 games, which is No. 1 in the nation among active FBS head coaches and 15 more than the next head coach in that span.

MSU averaged only 179.5 yards passing per game last season under then-coach Joe Moorhead. Leach has a 12-6 record in season openers, including a 3-3 mark in season openers on the road.

Who wins every NFL game this week? And which teams cover more than 50 percent of the time? Get picks here from the SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every NFL game 10,000 times and ranked in the Top 10 on NFLPickWatch three of the past four years on straight-up NFL picks.