Bowl Season heads to Nashville as Auburn faces Maryland at the Music City Bowl. It is time to continue our College Football odds series with a Music City Bowl Auburn-Maryland prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.

The Music City Bowl began in 1998, playing one year at Vanderbilt Stadium as they waited for Nissan Stadium to be completed. While the Big East and ACC have been tied to this game in the past, it is now tied to the Big Ten and the SEC. Auburn is playing in this game for the third time. They beat Wisconsin in 2003 and then beat Purdue in 2018. Maryland will be representing the Big Ten. They have not played in this game before. Still, the Big Ten has won the last two matchups in this game.

Auburn enters the game sitting at 6-6 on the year. They started the year 3-0 but found struggled after that. They would lose their next four, with three of them to ranked opponents and one to Texas A&M. After winning their next three, Auburn was bowl-eligible. Still, they dropped their next game, being upset 31-10 by New Mexico State. They may have been looking ahead to Alabama, and they nearly upset them. It was a 27-24 loss as Alabama returned in the fourth quarter.

Maryland enters the year at 7-5. They opened the season 5-9 but would fall to Ohio State. That would start a downfall for them. They would then fall to Illinois, Northwestern, and Penn State. After beating Nebraska, they would fall in a close game with Michigan. Still, they would end the year on a high note, beating Rutgers 42-24.

Here are the college football odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

Music City Bowl Odds: Auburn-Maryland Odds

Auburn: -6.5 (-110)

Maryland: +6.5 (-110)

Over: 47.5 (-110)

Under: 47.5 (-110)

How to Watch Auburn vs. Maryland

Time: 2:00 PM ET/ 11:00 AM PT

TV: ABC

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why Auburn Will Cover The Spread

Auburn comes into the game ranked 68th in the nation in points per game while sitting 96th in yards per game this year. They were 16th in the running game but sat 126 in the passing game. Payton Thorne is the quarterback for this offense. he was fairly average for Auburn, passing 1,671 yards this year on 149 of 239 passing. He also had 15 touchdowns, with a touchdown in each of his last six games. Still, he had nine interceptions this year, including two in the game with Alabama.

Thorne was a big part of the running game. He has 666 yards on the ground this year while scoring three times this year. The ground game has been led by Jarquez Hunter. He comes into the game with 865 yards on the ground this year while scoring seven times this year. Hunter was solid after contact. He averaged 4.10 yards per carry after his first contract this year. Further, he protected the ball well, with just two fumbles this year, and neither of them was lost.

The receiving game does not have a lot of studs. Rivaldo Fairweather is the leader for the receiving game from his tight end position. He has 33 receptions this year for 349 yards and six scores. Meanwhile, Ja'Varrius Johnson comes in with 347 yards this year and three scores to lead the wide receivers.

On defense, Auburn sits 31st in the nation in points per game, while sitting 56th in yards against per game. They were 91st in the nation against the run, while sitting 34th against the pass. Second Team All-SEC safety Jaylin Simpson will be one to watch in this one. He was solid in pass coverage this year, with four interceptions and four pass breakups. He allowed just 151 total yards this year while allowing just one touchdown.

Why Maryland Will Cover The Spread

Maryland was 50th in the nation in points per game this year, while sitting 60th in yards per game. They were 115th in the run game but 21st in the passing game this year. Maryland will be starting Billy Edwards Jr at quarterback in this one with Taulia Tagovailoa opting out for this game. Edwards threw just ten times this year with four completions for two yards and an interception. Last year he threw for 308 yards and three scores. Cameron Edge, who took just seven snaps this year, is also expected to get some time in this one.

Roman Hemby leads the running game for Maryland. He ran 135 times this year for 659 yards on the year. He also scored four times. Hemby has run for 100 yards just twice this year, with 100 yards games over Rutgers and Charlotte this year. In the receiving game, Jeshaun Jones and Tai Felton. Jones comes in with 757 yards this year on 54 receptions. He also scored four times. Felton comes in with 732 yards this year on 48 receptions. He has also scored six times this year. Kaden Prather has also been solid this year with 609 yards and five scores.

The Maryland defense was 54th in points allowed per game while sitting 32nd in yards allowed per game. They were 32nd against the run while sitting 42nd against the pass. They will be without Tarheeb Still in the secondary in this one. He was the only defender on this team to be named to an all-conference team this year. They will have Donnell Brown in this game though. He was solid all year on the defensive line, coming away with three sacks and 23 total quarterback pressures. He also had 12 stops for offensive failures in the run game and forced a fumble. Further, coming from his edge spot, he would drop into coverage. He had two interceptions and two pass breakups this year.

Final Auburn-Maryland Prediction & Pick

While Maryland is missing their starting quarterback, they have enough weapons on offense to still move the ball. The Auburn defense is good, but not great, and struggled against the run. Roman Hemby will be a huge factor in this game because of that. Further, Auburn has been bad on offense all year. They will have to rely on the running game, which is the strength of the Maryland defense. They will struggle to put up points in this one, as Maryland covers.

Final Auburn-Maryland Prediction & Pick: Maryland +6.5 (-110)