Rece Davis, Pete Thamel share conflicting picks on Missouri at Vanderbilt

Nashville, TN, plays host to ESPN College GameDay for Vanderbilt‘s massive showdown against Missouri. Rece Davis will host the show along with the usual suspects. Davis usually sits out the portion where predictions are made, most times trying to keep the pace moving.

Well, picks are there to be made when recording the College GameDay Podcast. Davis is going with Vanderbilt, choosing the home team to emerge victorious. He pointed toward some of the big-time matchups played by Missouri in recent weeks, using a ton of brain power.

“Everything sets up to feel like Missouri because so much attention is on Vanderbilt, Missouri is a really good team,” Davis said. “Now, Missouri did have to expend a lot of mental energy in the win at Auburn and probably quite a bit in the Alabama loss too. So, Missouri has been through it last couple of weeks.

“I’m going to say the Vanderbilt magic rolls on. Got a lot of music set up for GameDay, got a festival-type of atmosphere… I’ll go Vanderbilt.”

Missouri is 1-1 in those two games Davis mentioned, beating Auburn on the road and dropping one to Alabama in front of the home fans. Just watching his postgame interview on the Plains, you could tell head coach Eli Drinkwitz was fired up.

Back to the Vanderbilt matchup, Pete Thamel chimed in as well, going in the opposite direction of his podcast co-host. Missouri is the team he likes to win, on one condition. If the Tigers are in a spot where a kick is needed to get them over the finish line, it’s going to be a nervy moment for Thamel.

“I think this is going to be a low-scoring game,” Thamel said. “I think it’s going to be a close game. It’s going to be a game that goes by quickly. And I think Missouri figures out a way to win as long as they don’t need a kick at the end.”

No matter the predictions, this is a massive one for both teams. In order to stay alive in the jam-packed SEC race, it feels like a win is going to be required. Dropping to two conference losses may seal any hope of showing up in Atlanta. Now, the College Football Playoff, that’s maybe a different discussion.

Kickoff from FirstBank Stadium is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET. Hopefully, we get another SEC classic played out in front of our eyes.