College football week 9 and the Alabama Crimson Tide will travel to Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee to take on the Tennessee Volunteers. The game has a start time of 7:30 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN 2. Current Vegas odds have the Crimson Tide listed as 18 point favorites, while the total is set at 46.5.
Analysis: The Alabama Crimson Tide came off of two lackluster games to absolutely rout the Texas A&M Aggies 59-0 last week. The win put the Tide back in the top 5 of the national rankings with a 6-1 record that includes a 3-1 mark within the SEC. The Crimson Tide are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 trips to Neyland Stadium and 12-3 ATS in their last 615 games in October, but they are also just 2-8-1 ATS in their last 11 games overall. The Tide has been a very good offensive team this year, ranking 16th in total yards, 29th in passing, 27th in passing and 26th in scoring (36.9 ppg). The defense has been very good as always for the Tide, as they come in ranked 3rd in total yards allowed, 21st vs the pass, 2nd vs the run and 3rd in points allowed (13.1 ppg).
The Tennessee Volunteers come in at 3-4 on the year, including a 3-1 record at home, but they have struggled in the SEC going 0-3 so far. The home team is 4-14-1 ATS the last 19 in this series and Tennessee is 7-19-1 ATS in their last 27 games vs a team with a winning record, but the Vols are also 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games after scoring 20 points or less. The Vols are a weak offensive squad, as they come in ranked 116th in total yards, 70th in passing, 120th in rushing and 97th in points scored (24.4 ppg). The Vols have been a very solid defensive squad this year, ranking 19th in total yards allowed, 6th vs the pass, 65th vs the run and 30th in points allowed, giving up just 21.3 ppg.
Pick: I will look at the Under in this game. The Volunteers offense has struggled for most of the year and now will take on a hot and very tough Alabama defense that is off a shut out of the high flying Texas A&M Aggies. Very hard to see this Vols team that put up just 3 points last week on Ole Miss getting much going vs a defense that is equally as tough. Last week Bama did score 59 points on a very bad Texas A&M defense, but now they will take on a tougher Tennessee defense that has allowed just 21.3 ppg on the year. This is a solid Vols defense that ranks 19th in total defense and 6th vs the pass and they should keep the tide from going scoring crazy in this one. The Under is 25-11 in Alabama’s last 36 vs a team with a losing record, while the Under is 7-1 in the Volunteers last 8 games overall. This game may be played in the upper 30’s.
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