Alabama Game Saturday: Crimson Tide vs Ole Miss odds and prediction for NCAA week 5 game
By Ronald Evans
The Alabama Crimson Tide opens its SEC home season on Saturday against Lane Kiffin’s high-scoring Ole Miss football team. Alabama and Ole Miss are two of the SEC’s five undefeated teams. With an open date last weekend, Ole Miss sits at 3-0 with wins over Louisville, Austin Peay and Tulane.
The Ole Miss Rebels are ranked No. 12 in the AP Poll and No. 12 in the Coaches Poll. The last time Ole Miss was ranked as highly in one of the polls was in October of 2016.
Ole Miss was 5-5 last season in Kiffin’s first year in Oxford. The Rebels finished the 2020 season with an Outback Bowl win over Indiana.
Alabama vs. Ole Miss Odds
According to WynnBet the Alabama Crimson Tide are a 14.5 point favorite. The over-under is set at 77.5 points.
That’s a lot of points but the two teams are averaging 52.5 points (Ole Miss) and 46.5 points (Alabama) in the 2021 season.
Alabama vs. Ole Miss Game Prediction
Last season in Oxford, Kiffin’s offense shredded the Crimson Tide defense for almost 650 yards of offense. The Crimson Tide was even more explosive against one of college football’s weakest defenses and produced over 700 yards of offense. Mac Jones out-dueled Ole Miss QB, Matt Corral. The score was tied 35-35 at the half, before the Crimson Tide took enough control to push the final score to 63-48.
Alabama football fans were stunned by how easily Kiffin’s offense sliced up the Crimson Tide defense.
The main task in the Ole Miss offseason was to improve the defense. Some college football experts believe Ole Miss has made progress. Though against weak 2021 competition, it is difficult to know.
Alabama Football, despite having flaws exposed by Florida, is probably better than last season. It is certainly better than it was last fall in Oxford. The Crimson Tide offense is still powerful, though so far lacking the consistent explosiveness of last season.
Crimson Tide fans are struggling to predict the game’s outcome. On one side is a strong belief, the disparity in defensive talent is too big for Ole Miss to overcome. The counter-argument is the Tide’s defense is not yet strong enough to slow a Kiffin offense. If needed, can the Crimson Tide win a shootout? The early pick is yes.
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Ole Miss has beaten the Crimson Tide just four times this century. The Tide’s current winning streak over the Rebels/Black Bears/Landsharks is five games.