Alabama football opens as a small road favorite over Tennessee

Perhaps to the surprise of some Alabama football fans, the Crimson Tide has opened as a small road favorite over the Tennessee Volunteers for Saturday afternoon's matchup at Neyland Stadium.

Alabama is limping into the Third Saturday in October rivalry matchup, coming off a loss at Vanderbilt and an unconvincing win over South Carolina at home. This is a game most Tide fans have had circled as one of the most difficult matchups of the regular season, particularly after the Vols' hot start to the 2024 season.

But after looking invincible through the season's first our games, Tennessee has shown plenty of flaws themselves. On the same day the Crimson Tide fell in Nashville, the Vols suffered a road upset of their own, falling to the Arkansas Razorbacks. Tennessee fans hoping for a bounceback against Florida were similarly disappointed as it took overtime for the Vols to vanquish the Gators in Knoxville.

The struggles by each team has made this a difficult game to handicap for oddsmakers, but the opening lines favor the team from Tuscaloosa.

According to FanDuel SportsBook, Alabama is currently a 2.5 point road favorite on Saturday afternoon. The over/under is set at 55.5.

Both teams have shown plenty of promise in the season's first six games, but both have shown plenty of chinks in the armor, too. Tennessee's high powered offense has been stuck in the mud after a hot start to the season. Tennessee scored 71 points against Kent State in Week 3; they've scored a combined 62 points in three games since then. 56 if you take out the overtime touchdown to beat Florida.

It'll take a better effort than we've seen out of Alabama the last 10 quarters to score a road win in a tough environment against a rival, but Tennessee hasn't been the dominant force that many thought, either.