Alabama Football: Early betting line and prediction Tide vs Vandy and other key games

Against a truly bad Louisiana-Monroe team, Alabama Football covered a 49.5-point betting spread last week. The final margin could have been worse, had Nick Saban not mercifully taken four kneel-downs after a first-and-goal.

Alabama Football vs. Vanderbilt Spread Week Four

FanDuel has the Crimson Tide as an early week, 40.5 point favorite. The over/under is set at 59.5 points.

Alabama Football vs. Vanderbilt Prediction

When Vanderbilt last beat Alabama, Ray Perkins was the Alabama Crimson Tide head coach. Ronald Reagan was President and the top music hits were by Prince and Stevie Wonder. Going back to 1956, the only other Vandy win over the Crimson Tide was in 1969. The Vandy quarterback in 1969 was former Rice, Vanderbilt and UAB head coach, and North Carolina’s Mack Brown’s brother, Watson Brown.

Though there is little correlation, in September of 1969, Watson Brown was a young, unproven college quarterback. And that is comparable to the young, unproven QB, Clark Lea is expected to start Saturday night.

Alabama football fans reading this may detect some fondness for Vandy. How can you not root for such an underdog, perennially outclassed by other SEC teams? I’ll still be rooting for a tidy win by the Crimson Tide, but in other weeks of the season, I pull for the Dores.

There will be nothing close to a replication of 1969 and 1984 on Saturday night. Vanderbilt, at 3-1, is better than last season. I am not the only voice stating Vandy is not the SEC’s worst team.

But the Crimson Tide will roll and roll and roll. It is another week when Nick Saban can pretty much pick the score. Alabama still has key areas needing improvement. Key position groups, such as the offensive line, may see more first-unit action than in a normal Vandy game.

My best early-week guess is the Crimson Tide will cover the spread again – getting into the 50s, with Vandy not scoring more than 10 points.

Point Spreads for other SEC teams

• Auburn is favored by 7.5 points at home against Missouri
• Tennessee is a 10.5 point favorite at home against Florida
• Texas A&M is a 2.5 favorite at home against Arkansas
• Georgia is favored by 45.5 points at home against Kent State
• Mississippi State is a 30.5 points favorite at home against Bowling Green
• Ole Miss is a 21.5 point home favorite against Tulsa
• Kentucky is a 25.5 point home favorite against Northern Illinois
• LSU is a 30.5 point home favorite against New Mexico
• South Carolina is a 22.5 point favorite at home against Charlotte

In week four, SEC teams will run the table against out-matched, out-of-conference opponents.