Alabama College Football Playoff Odds

In what has become something of a new tradition, the Alabama Crimson Tide thrashed another Power Five school in a non-conference game at a neutral site in their season opener last weekend. This is the eighth straight season that Alabama has kicked off its season outside of Tuscaloosa, taking a fat paycheck to smash a major conference opponent. No school has yet to even lose by single digits to the Crimson Tide (West Virginia was the closest in 2014), so it was no surprise to see Alabama crush Duke 42-3 in its season opener.

ODDS TO WIN COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
ALABAMA +275

The Crimson Tide started slowly against Duke, failing to score in the first quarter. They turned it on once RB Najee Harris and others returned following a one quarter suspension though, scoring 35 points in the second and third quarters to put the game out of reach. The cover wasn’t in hand until Jerome Ford scampered for a 37-yard touchdown with just under five minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Alabama was only up 35-3 before then, and the score gave the Tide the cover per the NCAAF betting odds.

That victory was expected, so it didn’t really do anything to shake up the college football championship odds. Alabama and Clemson remain the co-favorites to win it all at +275, while every other team in the nation is +700 or higher. Those two schools have claimed the last four national titles, and they have met in three of the last four title games.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Anything other than a 5-0 start to the season would be a shock. The Crimson Tide are favored over New Mexico State by a whopping 55.5 points this weekend, and conference games against South Carolina and Ole Miss are looking even easier than they did at the start of the season.

All thoughts of South Carolina giving Alabama a test next weekend in Columbia went out the window when the Gamecocks lost to a rebuilding North Carolina in their season opener. To make matters worse, senior QB Jake Bentley was injured in the loss, so true freshman Ryan Hilinski will be under center for this game.

Ole Miss has given Alabama problems in the past, being the only team to beat the Crimson Tide in successive seasons in 2014 and 2015, but the Rebels have been blasted by a combined score of 128-10 in the last two games between these two rivals. Ole Miss might be the worst team in the SEC West after an ugly loss to Memphis in its season opener, so any hope of a third upset over Alabama this decade is out the window.

Alabama won’t be tested for real until they travel to College Station to take on Texas A&M on October 12. We’ll get a good taste of what to expect from the Aggies when they face Clemson this week, and Nick Saban’s assistants are sure to devour film from that game immediately afterwards.

INJURY SITUATION

The Crimson Tide have some real concerns in the linebacker corps this season. Alabama lost the leader of this unit two weeks ago when Dylan Moses suffered a torn ACL in practice, and that’s a huge blow. The only other linebacker on the team with significant experience (Joshua McMillon) went down with a season-ending injury in early August, so the underclassmen will have to step up.

Linebackers Christopher Allen, Ben Davis, and Ale Kaho were all held out of last week’s game for various reasons, but Alabama is hoping to have them back against New Mexico State in order to get reps and provide depth at the position.

SEASON TO DATE

Tua Tagovailoa wasn’t at his best initially against Duke in the opener, but he rallied to post big numbers. Tagovailoa went 26-31 for 336 yards and four touchdowns before yielding to Mac Jones late in the third quarter. He is a frontrunner to be named the best player in college football per the Heisman Trophy betting odds, only trailing Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence at this point.

As long as he stays healthy, Alabama will be tough to beat. The Tagovailoa to Jerry Jeudy connection is the best in college football at this point, as Jeudy looks set to join Julio Jones, Amari Cooper, and Calvin Ridley in the pantheon of recent great Alabama receivers.

Saban has adapted to no longer begrudgingly accept an offense that opens things up by spreading opponents out, eschewing some of the conservative traits that limited his teams in the early part of the decade. That makes it difficult to even beat Alabama in a shootout, and it’s hard to imagine the Crimson Tide outside the top four at the end of the regular season.

Get the latest college football odds and information–follow BetOnline.ag on Twitter!