To no one’s surprise, No. 1 Alabama has opened up as a huge favorite over Tennessee ahead of Saturday’s contest down in Tuscaloosa.
According to the sports betting site Vegas Insider, the Tide (6-0, 3-0 SEC) are 35.5-point favorites over the Vols (2-4, 1-2 SEC) for Saturday’s annual conference rivalry match-up. Alabama has won every game they’ve played this season by at least 19 points, and they’ve beaten teams by 35 or more points in three of their six wins. Their average margin of victory against SEC opponents so far this season is 23.7 points.
The Tide are coming off their “toughest” contest of the season so far against then-No. 24 Texas A&M. The Aggies took an early 7-0 lead and hung around for a couple quarters before Alabama pulled away. Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide squad ended up winning 47-28, marking Alabama’s sixth-straight game of scoring 40 or more points.
Tennessee is coming off their first SEC win of the season, defeating Mississippi State 20-10 at home. The Vols led from start to finish against the Bulldogs and limited Kylin Hill, the SEC’s leading rusher, to just 13 rushing yards on 11 carries. Tennessee’s defense totaled seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss against Mississippi State, and UT’s defense forced three turnovers.
Over the last decade-plus, the Third Saturday in October has been a lopsided affair. Clearly, Vegas thinks this upcoming match-up will be more of the same.
Alabama has won 12-straight contests against Tennessee in their annual rivalry game. The Vols’ last win over the Tide came back in 2006, a 16-13 victory. Since then, Alabama has won every contest between the two teams, and often the games haven’t even been close.
During that 12-game winning streak, Alabama has beaten Tennessee by 20 or more points on nine occasions. The only games Tennessee didn’t lose by multiple scores came in 2009 (12-10) and 2015 (19-14).
Last season, Alabama scored the most points they’ve ever put up against the Vols in the 100-plus year history of the rivalry. The Tide won 58-21 in Knoxville, marking the third-straight season where they beat the Vols by 30 or more points.
The 35.5-point spread could grow as the week progresses, but as it stands now, it’s the second-largest point spread in the series’ history dating back to 1995 according to the database at Odds Shark. Alabama was a 37-point favorite for the 2017 match-up, and they ended up covering the spread, winning by 38 points (45-7). The Tide were favored by 29.5 points before last season’s contest, and they were 30-point favorites in 2011.
All-time, the Vols are 10-12-1 against the spread when facing Alabama. The last time the Vols covered the point spread against the Tide came in 2015. During their 12-game losing streak to Alabama, Tennessee has covered the spread just three times (2009, 2014, 2015).
Tennessee and Alabama will kick-off at 9:00 PM Eastern on Saturday, October 19th.
