The Alabama Crimson Tide welcome in the top-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs in college football action on Saturday afternoon. The game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on CBS. Currently the odds for the game have the Crimson Tide favored by more than a touchdown in this one.
This has the makings of the best game of the season. Both Alabama and Mississippi State have looked very good this season. The Bulldogs have risen emphatically to the top of the college football world, but all of that could be lost if they lose on the road to Alabama. The Crimson Tide are a comfortable favorite over the top-ranked Bulldogs because Alabama has been in this situation before, year after year, and Las Vegas views them as the top overall team in the country.
They'll get a chance to showcase that on national television.
An Alabama loss, though, would all but knock them out of a potential spot in the college football playoff. Currently they aren't in the top four anyway, but a win over the Bulldogs would all but propel them into one of the top two spots overall. Nick Saban's group has just one loss on the season, a six-point defeat in Oxford to Ole Miss. Since then, however, the Crimson Tide have survived a couple of close battles, knocking off both Arkansas and LSU in tight games down the stretch. Alabama also TKO'd Texas A&M from having anything to do with the SEC title this season, beating the Aggies 59-0 about a month ago.
Blake Sims has really thrived as the quarterback for Alabama, tossing for better than 2,200 yards and 17 touchdowns. It certainly helps having the best receiver in college football on the roster in Amari Cooper, who has 79 catches for 1,215 yards and 10 scores. Alabama loves to line up and run the football, as well, and they have a pair of bruising backs in T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry — a pair of big backs that have the ability to mow down opponents.
And despite being the top-ranked team in the country, Mississippi State isn't getting a lot of love in this one. Dak Prescott should be on the short list for the Heisman trophy this season, having thrown for more than 2,200 and rushing for almost 800 yards this season. Prescott has combined for 29 touchdowns in leading the Bulldogs to an average of almost 40 points per game this season.
Alabama has won six straight in this battle of teams by an average of 22 points per game. But how worn down will they be, especially coming off an overtime win in Death Valley last week over LSU? Alabama always gets every team's best shot, but the Crimson Tide have Western Carolina on deck next week, so they should be ready to go in this one.
Mississippi State is coming in off a beatdown of Tennessee-Martin last week, essentially a glorified practice for the top-ranked Bulldogs. They also take on bottom-feeding Vanderbilt next week, so this should be an all-out effort from Dan Mullen's team.
The defense could be the deciding factor here. Alabama allows opponents to score less than 14 points per game, which ranks second best in the country. They've played in some tight games as well this season, which bodes well for them. The Bulldogs allow less than 20 points per game and offensively have been scoring all kinds of points. Alabama, playing at home, just takes it to the next level. We like the Crimson Tide to pick up the win, but Mississippi State won't go quietly.
Free Pick: Alabama 27, Mississippi State 21
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