Vegas is expecting a tight one.
The Third Saturday in October is near, which means it’s Alabama-Tennessee week. The Crimson Tide will make the trip north to Knoxville, with Kalen DeBoer set to make his debut in this rivalry.
Both Tennessee and Alabama enter this one struggling, both coming off of losses two weeks ago and big scares over the weekend. Tennessee somehow managed to beat Florida on Saturday, overcoming a dreadful first half to storm back for an overtime win. Alabama trailed late against South Carolina before taking the lead in the fourth quarter, then nearly blew that lead in the closing seconds.
Neither team is playing very well at the moment, despite both coming out of the gates quickly with an impressive first month. Which teams will show up on Saturday afternoon? That’s an extremely difficult question to answer, and the oddsmakers really don’t have a solid lean either way.
Alabama is favored by 2.5 points as of Tuesday morning, which is pretty much where that number has been since the summer. The total has been set at 56 points.
It’s quite the interesting matchup. You’ve got a struggling Tennessee offense going up against a struggling Alabama defense that has given up 34, 40 and 25 points over the last three weeks. Meanwhile, Tennessee hasn’t scored a point in the first half of their last two games. And then you’ve got a potent Alabama offense going up against a Tennessee defense that ranks No. 2 nationally in yards allowed per game.
“Really good football team that we’re playing,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said on Monday. “Talented, as everybody knows, ability to make explosive plays on the offensive side of the football. It starts with their quarterback, him being a part of the run game, and then playmakers out on the outside.”
Much more on this one as the week goes on. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.