The top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide host the Ole Miss Runnin Rebels on Saturday night in prime time. The game is scheduled for a 9:15 pm EST start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the odds have Alabama favored by a hefty margin of 30 points.
Alabama really hasn't been tested in their opening four games this season, steamrolling everything in its path. The Crimson Tide are far and away the best team in college football right now and they are flexing their proverbial muscles heading into the SEC season. Who will be able to hang with the Crimson Tide this season? Right now it looks as if no one is going to be able to weather the Alabama storm.
Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze said his team didn't have the SEC quality players needed, so it will be interesting to see how the Rebels will respond to that. The Crimson Tide have only lost once (1988) in 24 home games against Ole Miss, so history is certainly on the side of Alabama. Last year Bama rolled to a 52-7 final with A.J. McCarron tossing for 266 yards and just five incompletions. McCarron is dominating this season, throwing 10 touchdowns and no picks yet.
However, the best unit in the country is the Alabama defense, which has given up just seven points in their past three games and gave up 14 to Michigan in the team's season opener. Ole Miss will look to break into double digits tonight having picked up a 39-0 win over Tulane in a tune-up game last week. Freeze has to be a bit concerned as Alabama is +10 in the turnover department this season compared to his team's -3 ratio.
This year's Ole Miss team is a lot better than the 2011 squad as offensively they have been able to put up points. Had they not given up 66 to Texas, their defensive number would look a lot better as they've given up a little over 12 points per game in their other three contests. Freeze teams have averaged more than 33 points per game and Ole Miss has covered the spread in Tuscaloosa the past three contests. Alabama has won the last eight meetings in this series but Ole Miss had a 5-3 advantage against the number in those contests.
We're expecting a big game from Alabama here tonight, but laying 30 points in a conference game sure is a lot, even if you are at home. Obviously this is going to be the biggest and toughest test for Ole Miss all season and Freeze has been known to cover some point spreads. They've played well offensively as well but in the end, we think Alabama plays too much defense tonight for the Rebels to hang around at all.
Free Pick: Alabama 41, Ole Miss 6
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